{"id":417710,"date":"2025-09-12T05:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T05:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/417710\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T05:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T05:59:11","slug":"algernon-cadwallader-trying-not-to-have-a-thought-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/417710\/","title":{"rendered":"Algernon Cadwallader: Trying Not to Have a Thought Album Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though admired by a range of emo and indie rockers, Algernon Cadwallader originally considered themselves an off-kilter punk band, and they fully embrace that identity on Trying Not to Have a Thought. It\u2019s their densest and loudest album, even if each member sounds more controlled on the whole. From the gnarled rock propelling \u201cShameless Faces (even the guy who made the thing was a piece of shit)\u201d to the artful, ketamine-fueled<\/a> post-punk of \u201cnoitanitsarcorP,\u201d all four members sound energized, focused, and inspired by each other\u2019s ideas. \u201cThere is no \u2018I\u2019 in Algernon,\u201d Helmis yells with relief on the title track. It\u2019s a testament to the band members\u2019 tight bond and how their live shows allow the public to share in it.<\/p>\n

In the band\u2019s first run, Algernon Cadwallader were sometimes criticized for being too in thrall to their influences: Cap\u2019n Jazz<\/a>, Joan of Arc<\/a>, Owls<\/a>. But even that intended bullet bounces like a rubber band in the emo scene, where the Kinsellas are venerated like saints and simultaneously recognized for how they\u2019ve continued to evolve as musicians over the years. Algernon would like to attempt the same, and the development of Helmis\u2019 vocal tactics on \u201cWhat\u2019s Mine\u201d alone warrants the reunion album: He mumble-speaks like Phil Elverum<\/a>, switches to pining long notes, and lets melodic hiccups accent his transition from scream-yodel to full-on yell. Meanwhile, Tazza continues the tradition of Analphabetapolothology<\/a>\u2019s childlike percussive loafing by casting a prism of pastel textures over \u201cKoyaanisqatsi\u201d with triangle, shakers, and diaphanous drum patterns.<\/p>\n

Reinhart, who also mixed the album, trains the spotlight on the precise jabs of a buttoned-up fencing match with Mahony, his co-guitarist. The two dance around one another in equal volume, light on their feet, with intricate finger-tapping and rhythmic interplay that cherry-picks from Midwest emo, bluegrass, jazz, and fingerstyle guitar. In \u201cYou\u2019ve Always Been Here,\u201d atop Tazza\u2019s steady beat and Helmis\u2019 bassline, Reinhart and Mahony ramp up until their two guitars sound like four, then six. The intentional frenzy of Algernon Cadwallader\u2019s past work is refined into contemplative passages (\u201cWhat\u2019s Mine\u201d) and sugary Pop Rocks explosions (\u201cWorld of Difference\u201d) that raise your heart rate without mandating participation in the mosh pit. Tempting as it is to credit that melodic punk push as being solely Reinhart\u2019s handiwork\u2014he\u2019s the band\u2019s not-so-secret weapon, a producer for Beach Bunny<\/a> and Modern Baseball<\/a>\u2014a closer ear takes notice of the crucial choices Mahony makes in each of his complementary guitar parts.<\/p>\n

By waiting to return to the drawing board, Algernon Cadwallader built Trying Not to Have a Thought on their own time and in their own way. The mood is grateful and reflective, but it doesn\u2019t dull their unruly style. The title track, the album\u2019s centerpiece, introduces an effortless, freewheeling hook that drips with bittersweet nostalgia as Helmis belts mouthfuls like, \u201cI\u2019m trying not to get caught in the backwash of an artificial world constructed by bloodsucking motherfuckers in an anti-social coliseum.\u201d He\u2019s having fun, but he\u2019s not putting on blinders for the sake of a good time. \u201cHawk\u201d opens the album by grieving a high school friend: Helmis remembers roughhousing and playing with pocket knives together, never imagining they\u2019d run out of time. \u201cA few of your favorite clothes from your high school wardrobe\/Are the closest thing to having you back,\u201d he sings. His bandmates know exactly how to brighten pockets of the song to match Helmis\u2019 elegy: \u201cWhen we had the chance\/We did it right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Though admired by a range of emo and indie rockers, Algernon Cadwallader originally considered themselves an off-kilter punk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[31104,77,269,16,15,4715],"class_list":{"0":"post-417710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-albums","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-web"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115189800390672825","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}