My favorite TWRP track gun-to-head is probably “Typhoon Turnpike” from Return to Wherever. It’s a very whimsical, bright, and fun take on their approach to city pop and bass-heavy funk rock. To this day, seven years later, it’s the song of theirs whose melodies enter my head at random points the most. It also sounds like a song that could be in a Mario Kart game or something and doesn’t that just play on our nostalgia a bit? In fact, that album as a whole is my favorite of theirs after all these years and several new albums – this new one though, The Longest Weekend, has a solid argument for being up there with it.
Hey everyone. Welcome to my SIXTH TWRP review. For those wanting to fact check me, please note my review for 2018’s Together Through Time was hosted on our old site It Djents, and that went bye-bye when we evolved into the Everything Is Noise you know now. It can be hard getting hype for a band that average a project a year – have they changed? What else can they deliver that keeps them on our playlists and in our minds? Is it getting old? TWRP have plateaued ever so slightly here and there, but never made a bad album and it’s up to us, the discerning fans, to determine how we’ll welcome new work.
Since I’ve been listening to some heavy shit lately, it’s only fair I get a chance to unwind, right? Do we all not deserve a reprieve from time to time? Everyone’s so big on talking about work-life balance and self-care, but we’re collectively still pretty bad about it as the decaying hand of capitalism shoos us into the slaughterhouse of profits and shareholder power. That’s why TWRP are inviting us to The Longest Weekend, an ode to relaxation, freedom, and true enjoyment of life. Those feelings are baked into every aspect of the album. Look at the gorgeous lakefront art on the cover done by artist Arthur Doyle with mountainous splendor that reminds me of the Rockies, a lovely cabin, and a big patio with a cool firepit – can you spot each member of TWRP? Even the song titles are rallying cries to putting your feet up like “My Big Day Off”, “Ukiyo”, “Unbounded and Free (Party Party Party)”, and “Day Trip”.
It all starts with “No Service” though, the album’s only bona fide collab with another marquee artist, Los Angeles Power Disco, the only LAPD we recognize in this household. This track is where the sonic crux of The Longest Weekend is set in place: there’s a lot of classic rock influence on here! Driving, melodic riffs and solos that call to mind the likes of Golden Earring or maybe Thin Lizzy or Blue Öyster Cult a bit help the album take off with a message to turning your phone off and not caring about anything else at all except what you can see, hear, smell, and taste. There’s even some tambourine too! “My Big Day Off” digs deeper into the theme with Doctor Sung singing about the serenity of doing whatever you want to do with your own time – with or without pants. Commander Meouch goes HAM on the bass as he’s liable to do, but it’s still an appropriately laid-back, funk-inspired song with a tasty synth break toward the end. Hell yeah.
“Ukiyo” is a lovely track that doubles down on the funk and some disco flare as well with neat and playful piano. The name is a Japanese term that essentially refers to recreation and hedonistic lifestyle, specifically that came to be during the country’s Edo period with kabuki performances and brothels becoming prominent, but the song itself calls to mind ’70s star-studded nightlife and camera flashbulbs popping while pointed at slinky dresses and done-up suits. The Edo period lasted almost three centuries which I’m pretty sure makes it the longest weekend ever, but TWRP are certainly giving it some competition. Speaking of brothels, “The Language of Love” is the return of suave, horny TWRP and this might be their best song in that vein yet. It’s slow and rhythmic, heavy on the percussion, but also sensual with nice acoustic guitars in the middle and breathy synth work, and I can’t help but raise my eyebrow at the chorus – ‘It’s the language of love, baby/So come talk to me‘.
“Unbounded and Free (Party Party Party)” is high-energy TWRP at their catchiest with huge power solos and a gang vocal section at the end that I know will go off during live shows (they’re touring now so go confirm that yourself at a North American venue near you). “Critters” is an adorable song shouting out all the cute (and maybe not so cute) insects and bugs out in nature, thinking about their perspective and contributions to the world around them. Seems silly, and maybe it is a bit, but it really plays into the theme of relaxation by being more aware of the world around you, centering something else besides yourself or our mountains of work and obligations in life. I really appreciate it from that perspective too. I also appreciate “The Nourishing Act” which is about something else seemingly simple that we often take for granted or ignore: making a damn good breakfast to pilot you through your day. I love the warm synths here, radiating gentle heat like a pancake fresh off the griddle. That sizzling sound in the intro made me hungry, hold on, I’ll be back…
The Longest Weekend is just resplendent with these moments, done the TWRP way of course. It does take some time to get serious though. “Stargazing” is a trip and a half, and one with a sad, touching origin. I didn’t realize this until my pal, fellow turbo TWRP fan, and new writer here Colleen told me that the ‘Brother Star‘ in the lyrics refers to synthwave artist George Smaragdis, better known as Starcadian, who tragically passed in May in an accident. I greatly enjoyed his first album Sunset Blood when it dropped in 2013 during my synthwave phase. The lyrics reflect on those who have left us and how they’re never too far away, shining in the sky to guide and comfort us. It’s very beautiful. The guitar and drum work from Lord Phobos and Haave Hogan respectively is massive here, the boldest instrumentation on the album by far and it’s giving off space rock opera vibes with the ascending synths, but when you’re making a tribute to a real friend, you can never do too much. The album’s description on Bandcamp aside from the usual liner notes reads ‘For George‘ which tells you all you need to know about that. RIP.
All good things come to end, even The Longest Weekend, and it’s wrapped up with a wonderful title track that grounds the album with the reminder that we must cherish the good moments we get, however fleeting they may be, so they can give us some solace during the hard moments. And that’s kind of the whole point of the project, right? We should – must – take breaks often no matter what our lives are like, delight in the simple things, take less for granted, and put more time into hobbies and even your own meals. Bask in the moments we have alone or with our friends and family doing the things we really want to do because that’s what’s really important. With this, TWRP have made their most powerful and possibly indelible work yet. The only thing you have to be worried about is when your next longest weekend will be and where will it take you?
