Outer Battery (2021)
It feels like this is what it means to buy a new release for me this year. Rather than a new band with a new album, I'm picking up a live album that was recorded nine years ago by a band that's no longer together. While 2020 wasn't a high water mark for new and exciting records (with a few notable exceptions), I really feel like 2021 is a barren wasteland. So, it looks like I'll stick to buying the tried and true for now.
Live records aren't my favorite thing at the best of times. Sure, Leatherface and Bum had great ones, but there's a lot more misses than hits out there. I hardly ever listen to live albums as in general, I'd prefer to just listen to the studio recording of a song in the context of the album it was released on.
It's also a real crap shoot on what the live record will even sound like. So often they are tinny, poorly recorded documents of a sound that was so much bigger in real life. Luckily, that isn't the case with this Obits live record. It's recorded impeccably with everything sounding full and rich.
The band is playing at a super high level as well, with everything sounding on point, like a band really hitting their stride. I can't say that the song selection is exactly how I would have set it up, as I probably would have leaned more towards some of the band's faster material, but they do roll out hits like "Talking to the Dog" and "One Cross Apiece" towards the end.
I mean, for an Obits live record, this is a pretty good. I don't know what they could have done to make it better aside from include a few more of my personal favorite songs, but that's just me being greedy. That said, I really can't imagine when I would listen to this. I like having it in the collection, because I'm a broken person with a completist problem and the artwork is great. But if I want to listen to The Obits, I'm probably just grabbing one of their other full lengths.
The Obits - Die At The Zoo:
https://obits.bandcamp.com/album/die-at-the-zoo
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