Music Review // Leisure Hour "...and to think" (Counter Intuitive Records)

https://counterintuitiverecords.bandcamp.com/album/and-to-think

As someone who grew up in the peak of emo and pop punk (which, really, everyone thinks that they did) I'm reminded so much of what was coming out during the New Found Glory era of Drive Thru Records, that time when music felt magical and it created real emotion.  Now, is the fact that I was of a certain age at that time related to that at all?  Probably.  But being old and jaded now, it's not as easy to get emotions out of me, so when I hear something like this album by Leisure Hour I know it has to be hitting the younger crowd even harder.

Musically, Leisure Hour has that pop punk / emo sound down in a modern way.  They have two vocalists, which sometimes take the lead for an entire or trade off during a song, which can make this feel even more different from what I was listening to some twenty odd years ago.  The vocals though do remind of The Forecast to some extent, so shout out to them.  But this is just so musically-charged, so energetic that it feels impossible to put it on and not be affected by it in some way.

Listening to the song "Jobs", which is about not wanting to work a 9-5, is something I feel like most people can relate with but also it just seems so strange to me as in this specific way it can be applied to a musician.  Literally in almost anything you do- go to the doctor's office, go to a McDonald's- you're going to hear music playing.  This society, in many ways, revolves around the very existence of music.  But rather than, say, pay musicians a basic income so they can create (I actually have a pretty wild tax idea structured to this) we might end up missing out on some absolute essential art because rent is too expensive.

If you've ever tried to listen to all of the music written within a calendar year (which I do) then you'll think it strange that this album came out on January 30th because it's basically at a point where people might overlook it and be onto February already.  However, for me, and having my birthday literally being the day after this was released, I take a song like "Happy Birthday" fairly seriously and personally and want to say "Thanks, motherfucker" back.

While I also thnk about this album lyrically, I take a song like "Jenny", which has been released before but I've never written about it (only in my mind).  When I was growning up, I lived in a house at the bottom of a hill and across the street was my mailbox which also happened to be in front of this giant tree.  One night while sleeping, I was awoken by this ungoldy *thud* but not sure what it was, I went back to sleep.  I woke up again to flashing lights and sirens, my dad realizing what had happened had called 911.  (I was way too young to do anything like that, to be aware)

A teenage girl had driven down the hill at top speed and crashed her car into said tree.  As far as I know, she survived it, but it wasn't until years later, when I was older and saw the world differently, that I thought about that and realized what had really happened.  I don't think it was a matter of being drunk or asleep at the wheel, but rather I think that girl was like Jenny and just didn't want to live any more.  It's strange how we can see things one way as kids but then completely different as we get older, but "Jenny" is just such a reminder of that for me.

Regardless of if you like music along the lines of "pop punk" or "emo" I think you owe it to yourself, maybe even to your younger self, to give "... and to think" at least one listen through in full.  Based on the lyrics that I've been hearing along with the music itself, it just feels like everyone is going to be able to take something away from the experience of listening to this.  That take away may not be the same for everyone, but that's okay.  Leisure Hour still has something for you, so it's up to you whether or not you accept this gift.