SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STILL HOUSE PLANTS – IF I DON’T MAKE IT, I LOVE U

STILL HOUSE PLANTS
IF I DON’T MAKE IT, I LOVE U
BISON RECORDS

Still House Plants have released their third studio album, If I Don’t Make It, I Love U. This comes nearly four years after their previous album, Fast Edit. If I Don’t Make It, I Love U is a decent record with many exceptional and outstanding moments, though it is an album filled with a high amount of indulgence and tediousness.

If I Don’t Make It, I Love U kicks off with “M M M”, which starts with a high amount of indulgence, like most of this record. However, this is particularly evident in the first half of the track, which is quite monotonous and difficult to listen to. What’s more, this track has some truly horrible production. Sadly, this lacklustre track gives way to the nearly as disappointing track “Pant”, which is a song with interesting lyrics but an agonising and horribly irritating use of sounds and production. The album’s sound fails to align with the songwriting, likely due to a high level of experimentation, resulting in a dull and empty sound. The odd thing is that this isn’t most of the album. For many tracks, the vocals are quite nice, and the songwriting works well. Despite that, there are tracks like these that take away from that.

One of the strongest elements of If I Don’t Make It, I Love U is the songwriting on display. Nearly every track here has such an extreme level of detail in its lyrics that it’s worth listening to alone. The lyrics here have the same controlling tone as the entire album, which is mostly quite nice. The possibly best instance of lyrics on this album is none other than the best song on this LP. The track “MORE BOY” stands out for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the vocal range on display is commanding and powerful, something even today’s top singers could only aspire to achieve. Secondly, some of the album’s best-written and most compelling lyrics work well with both the vocals and, shockingly, the production. At the end of this song, we actually hear a bit more, possibly them finishing up after the vocals, and it’s a clever choice to leave that end and works brilliantly to the effect.

If I Don’t Make It, I Love U is a very interesting experience that, despite some major issues, is well worth listening to. The issue with the album is its crop of songs that suffer from lacklustre production and vocals that don’t work well with it. While there may be intention behind this, it still doesn’t make certain songs any less agonising due to their frequent lack of merit and pure quality in my areas, with them relying rather on their sheer boldness.

Overall, If I Don’t Make It, I Love U has a lot going for it, including amazing songwriting and captivating vocals, but the many times the sloppy production and experimentation cloud its focus.

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