Album of The Day #1 - Trouble At The Henhouse
I’m writing this review as I listen and I want to take the time to point out a few things for this first AoTD! Yes, I’m late as hell. I haven’t gotten around to it as I didn’t really have the time I thought I would to start such a big project. Second of all, I have no idea if this format you see here today will stick around. I’m still figuring out how I want to do these reviews. I’m not even sure if I’ll keep rating them with numbers, because it feels a little intimidating to give these crazy solid ratings to music that is so subjective in its enjoyment. At the end of the day I just hope these “reviews” encourage you to listen to more music, just like they’re encouraging me. I’m deciding to start the AoTD series with Trouble At The Henhouse, as it is one of my favorite overall albums, and I needed something familiar to get me off the ground. It’s a well rounded album, and I hope you give it a listen
Trouble At The Henhouse - 80%
Track 1 - Gift Shop - 8/10
The intro track, and quite a good one at that. The soft beginning with delicately overdriven guitars lends itself perfectly as a start to the album. The slow, satisfactory build only brings good things behind it, as the band launches into a mid energy, engaging track that I wouldn’t put anywhere else on this album. It sits perfectly in its spot, a good hook, catching you with it’s crunchy tone and crisp, punchy vocals. All around 8/10 song, it’s a solid foundation for what’s to come on this album.
Track 2 - Springtime In Vienna - 7/10
Once again bringing out the soft, delightful tone that this album uses so fruitfully, Springtime In Vienna is another medium energy that you can most definitely dance to. With a catchy chorus and a verse that hooks you in with a constant build up, it places high in my ranking for this album. Although I personally think it’s a weaker track than the one we just left on, it still pushes the experience of the album as a whole to a higher standing - it’s not a bad track, it’s not a phenomenal track, it’s just a good song - and every good album has some of these. 7/10 and a well earned 7/10 at that.
Track 3 - Ahead By a Century - 7/10
God I almost don’t even want to talk about this one, it’s probably been done to death. This is one of my favorites, and also easily the most popular. It’s an amazing song, the melody is delicate and haunting at times, while the harmonies on the vocals carry you away as if you were the one sitting up in that tree. The use of acoustic here is one of my favorites in any music, and it compliments the electric that kicks in ever so perfectly later in the track. Well worth a listen and a good introduction to The Tragically Hip. I would give this one a 7/10, but it’s still a solid track.
Track 4 - Don’t Wake Daddy - 9/10
I’m excited to talk about this one. This is actually one of the first tracks that got me really into this album. Lyrically wacky and weird, it moves through the song in a barrage of words I would never question, but never have come up with. I mention the guitar on this album a lot, but It really is one of the strongest points of this album, the tone perfectly compliments the bass’ in this song, making it such a strong sound. It’s one of the strongest tracks on the album in fact, it rhymes nicely, it’s got a super fun chorus that you can sing along to (if you remember that daddy that hits a bit early), and a good beat to it to nod along to. The outro compliments it wonderfully, a tasteful, memorable end to the first 1/3 of the album. 9/10, easily.
Track 5 - Flamenco - 8/10
Slow it down! Or at least that’s what this song is going to do. A contrast to the tracks that surround it, Flamenco is a more mellowed out addition to the album that fits most perfectly despite its difference to the rest. The two guitars work together in either ear, painting the scene for us perfectly. The lyrics are simple, but they get the point of the song across so well that I couldn’t even argue for something a little more complex. It’s a song that you can relax to, a song you can sing along to, and a song you can nod along to at the same time. It’s a solid 8/10 and works so well.
Track 6 - 700 Foot Ceiling - 10/10
My favorite easily. 700/10. But being serious now, this is one of the more danceable tracks. It has a bite to it, it wants to sink its teeth into you. And if it doesn’t catch you in the beginning, it will about mid song, with some of my favorite background vocals in a song. This is a song you can blast. This is a song to move to. I regularly catch myself singing this one. The reoccurring background vocals in the outro, the way the chorus transitions so smoothly in-between verses, god. And the end gives us such a nice taste of the instrumental. 10/10 song.
Track 7 - Butts Wigglin - 6/10
Butts Wigglin is an interesting one. It almost has a different feel to the rest, but it’s definitely still obvious it belongs on the album. Lyrically very thin, this one isn’t my favorite. The chorus isn’t as interesting as anything off the other songs, and the instrumental could be a little more appealing than it is currently, but it’s still very much listenable, I just wouldn’t rate it as highly as the other songs I’ve thrown up in the 7-8/10 range. By this point in the song it’s almost over and honestly I’m just struggling to find anything interesting to say about it. I want to like this one a lot more, but I have to give it a 6/10.
Track 8 - Apartment Song - 9/10
An almost movie like opening, this song will hook you. The lyrics beg the question, what does our apartment do when we aren’t around? With a chorus I’d almost call more just another verse, the structure of this song doesn’t deviate far from the norm, but it does something interesting with it. Mid song we get a nice instrumental that I almost want to call a very chill guitar solo. Another thing with this track is that it’s one of the songs where I am noticeably drawn more to the drums, which I think are mixed perfectly for this type of music. The outro wraps up the whole scene we’ve had set nicely, and gives us another minute to sit with those guitars. 9/10
Track 9 - Coconut Cream - 7/10
This one is fun, and will get you moving. Singing along to fun lyrics, this relatively simple song has more to it than its goofy wording might convey. The guitar gets very fun, and the vocals are just as punchy as any of the other tracks on the album. And here we get a real guitar solo! It blends so nicely into the song, and leads us right back into the chorus, before we get set up with more instrumental again, and oddly enough, airplane noises. I don’t have much to talk about with this one, other than saying that it’s way more fun than I would have initially though upon listening. 7/10.
Track 10 - Let’s Stay Engaged - 8/10
This one hits a little close to home, at least if you want to interpret lyrics like a depressed queer person on the internet does. I really like the way this is written, and honestly I feel like I shouldn’t speak more on this one, so that you can gauge it yourself. Musically it’s still on point like the rest of this album. The Tragically Hip most definitely knew what they were doing here, and it takes on that characteristic Trouble At The Henhouse sound almost perfectly. I love the bass on this track quite a bit as well, it’s groovy and serves the track well. I’m glad it gets a nice focus in the outro, which leads so well into our next track. But wait! The rating first! I would give this one an 8/10!
Track 11 - Sherpa - 9/10
With lyrics as far out as mars, this one takes us on a trip, through the feeling of what the song offers as a Sherpa high. While this one is lower energy, and features some of the coolest wailing guitar tones on the album, it still delivers with an engaging chorus, and lyrics that could beat out most of the other songs on this album. It also has a nice repeatable, comfortable pattern to it, that I like a lot. It carries on through about 6 verse/chorus sections before melting into wonderful outro that keeps on hitting. Solid 9/10. I honestly can’t say enough about this one, I wish I knew what to talk about more for this one, it’s just such a wonderful one that I can’t quite do justice!
Track 12 - Put It Off - 8/10
Is that sitar? It sure sounds like it! This one has a beautiful, quiet tonality, that the chorus breaks through a bit. It’s not my top pick or anything, but this track does what it can to end the album off in a way that is ever so perfectly Trouble At The Henhouse. Downie belting out these lyrics in parts of the song, only to bring us back into the lull of the verse, has done incredible things for how much I enjoy this track. The nice contrast while still keeping that chilled out atmosphere is great work, and it delivers a great end to this album. Take a moment and listen to the guitar tone in the outro, god. Great end to an album, and a solid 8/10 song!
Final Thoughts
“So if it’s one of your favorite albums why does it only have 80%” Well, going by the rating system for AoTD, that’s what we end up with, though I don’t feel that individually judging tracks like this will work for me long term. I will have to possibly rethink the scoring/judging system. Overall this album is such a hitter for me. I can only talk about the beautiful softly overdriven thing they have going on so many times. It’s a calm list of songs that work beautifully together in a listening session, and sparkle just as hard in isolation. Everything here stands up wonderfully. From songs with Gord belting out the lyrics to songs where he softly invites us in with them, songs where the guitar barely hits that threshold for crunch, to songs that push it perfectly, it really does resonate with me. The Tragically Hip have done great work on many of their albums, but this one will always be a favorite. If you like this kind of sound, I highly recommend their discography, as well as Matthew Good (and Matthew Good Band), and R.E.M.