Violent Things

''Violent Things'' is the fourth studio album by American indie pop band the Brobecks. Written by lead vocalist and bassist Dallon Weekes, with production by Casey Crescenzo, it was independently released on May 18, 2009.

Background

In contrast to the Brobecks' previous three albums, Dallon Weekes is the sole writer of ''Violent Things''. Weekes recorded the album's 15 songs over a week-and-a-half period with producer Casey Crescenzo in his home basement studio in Boston, Massachusetts. It was published without mixing or mastering due to budget constraints, leading to a retroactive dissatisfaction with the album.

Reception

Although the album had little success upon release, it became a trend on TikTok in the early 2020s. The song "Better Than Me" received particular attention for its self-deprecating content, amassing over 85 million streams on Spotify. Claire Cicero of '' The Red & Black'' praised the distorted bass, harmonies, and lyricism of "All of the Drugs", complimenting its momentum from a minimalistic start. Davy Washington of '' The Bullet'' highlighted the track "Boring" as an anthemic encapsulation of the album's sorrow, building from soft piano and vocals into an electronic instrumental burst.

Re-recordings

In 2011, "Visitation of the Ghost" was re-recorded for a planned Brobecks EP, but this was scrapped after Weekes joined Panic! at the Disco as a bassist. It was later released as a single. Re-recorded editions of "Love at First Sight" and "Second Boys Will Be First Choice" were leaked on multiple occasions under an EP titled ''This Is Heavy'' along with a demo for "Far Too Young To Die," used later on the Panic! at the Disco album '' Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!'' (which was leaked on SoundCloud prior). Weekes has stated that these were released without his consent, by a third-party, to make money off of his old songs and demos, and requested they not be streamed online.

After the formation of I Dont Know How But They Found Me between Weekes and Ryan Seaman, the duo initially had a short catalog of music. They chose to perform cover songs to lengthen concerts, including songs originally by the Brobecks. Three of these are from ''Violent Things'': "Visitation of the Ghost", "Boring", and "Clusterhug". The latter was proposed as a demo to Panic! at the Disco, but the band declined. It would eventually appear re-recorded on I Dont Know How But They Found Me's debut album, '' Razzmatazz'' (2020).

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's Bandcamp page.

*Dallon Weekes – lead vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards
*Drew Davidson – drums
*Casey Crescenzo – production, guitar, piano
*Lyndsey Lesh – album artwork
*Bill Ferenc – typography

References

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2009 albums
The Brobecks albums