Jan. 26, Walk the Moon by Walk the Moon

Genre: Pop rock/Alternative
Year: 2012
Runtime: 43:00
Total Number of Tracks: 11, including a 35 second instrumental interlude
Songs you might know:
– “Quesadilla”
– “Anna Sun”
– “Tightrope”
– “Jenny”

My prior relationship with the album: Like many people, my first introduction to Walk the Moon was “Shut Up and Dance.” But as I dug into the bands discography and discovered this self-titled album that came before, I really grew to like this one too. Honestly, I think it is my favorite Walk the Moon album, despite having no real mainstream hits. This is a relatively easy listen in that I don’t really find myself skipping over some tracks to get to my favorites the way I might with their more recent albums. Though to be fair, I can also blast “Anna Sun” over and over again for a whole car ride and be perfectly happy.

My impression this time around: I’ve listened to this enough times that this listen didn’t really change much of anything. I still love the album. One of the things I love about Walk the Moon as a band is that they almost always deliver on the expectations they set with their ridiculously good singles, but there’s still something unexpected at the same time. As you might guess from more well-known Walk the Moon tracks, this is an album full of great energy that would be fun to dance to. However, Tracks like “Iscariot” and “I Can Lift a Car” break up the monotony and prove the band has depth. This allows Walk the Moon to embody many of the qualities that make pop music worth listening to, without being as cliche or predictable as more mainstream pop albums often are.

“I Can Lift a Car” is especially deserving of its own paragraph. This is one I often forget about whenever it’s been a while since I’ve listened to the album, but every time I listen I’m reminded how rare and special such songs are. One of the slower songs of the album, “I Can Lift a Car” perfectly captures that feeling of reassuring yourself that you can be strong when in reality you’re feeling weaker than ever. It’s so much more complex than a simple “I’m sad, I miss you” song or an “In your face, I’m over you” song. Instead, it zooms in on the awkward middle ground between those two extremes, and explores how one can often experience both emotions simultaneously. It’s a song you hear and think “wow, there’s no other song like this.” And that’s rare, especially in a mostly pop album.

Who would enjoy it? I think most pop music fans would really love this, especially if you’ve enjoyed other Walk the Moon tracks you’ve heard. That being said, I wouldn’t say this is an album that would ONLY appeal to pop music fans, and that it might still be worth your time even if you’ve been kinda “meh” on tracks like “Shut Up and Dance.” This is for anyone who can enjoy upbeat energy who also appreciates emotional complexity.