Jeff Rosenstock, frontman of Bomb the Music Industry! and experienced producer in his own right, premiers with his fifth-studio album, HELLMODE, at the very end of August, surprise releasing the album a day before the expected release of September 1st. A continuation of Rosenstock’s historic roots in the punk scene, HELLMODE succeeds in bringing the post-punk rhythyms of Rosenstock’s previous projects into a modern world, tackling issues of white supremacy, climate change, and the anxieties of living in the world stricken with these social concerns. A COVID project, like many of the albums released in the last two years, Rosenstock is unafraid to evolve his post-punk musicality, bringing in pop melodies and almost nursery rhyme moments, allowing a dynamic range of genre influences into each and every song.
The musicality of HELLMODE is what to expect from Jeff Rosenstock, maintaining traditional rock instrumentalism while using Rosenstock’s experience in production to strengthen the fundamentals. With a wide variety of tempo and sound, HELLMODE has a diverse allocation of genre, from fast, punk tracks, to slower indie adjacent songs, to the traditional postpunk present in almost every Rosenstock project.
HELLMODE starts off with “WILL U STILL U”, a song about maintaining love even in the face of individual mistakes. The first minute of the track is spent with a slow, almost drawn-out monologue to a supposed lover after the singer has ‘messed up’, concerned that they will no longer love him. As we approach the minute marker, the traditional, mostly upbeat punk rhythms and vocals that Jeff Rosenstock is known for come to the foreground. As an opening song, “WILL U STILL U” perfectly introduces the anxious nature of HELLMODE, while introducing the genre-defying musicality Jeff Rosenstock is going for in his 2023 release.
“LIKED YOU BETTER” and “DOUBT”, the third and fourth songs on the album, were originally released as singles to build hype for the project. As individual singles, both tracks work well independently, but as parts of the entire HELLMODE, they excel at building different relationships, both with others and with the voice behind the songs. The starting verse of “LIKED YOU BETTER” builds the anxious storyteller from “WILL U STILL U”, who is concerned with embarrassing themselves and others in the face of the world around them, before presenting a complex relationship with another, who he liked better when he wasn’t thinking about them. The following verses build this relationship through solid lyricism that the average listener can relate to. “DOUBT”, on the other hand, is far more repetitive, drilling in a few key notes about maintaining confidence even in the face of difficulties, which perfectly encapsulates the other themes of the album.
Jeff Rosenstock’s lyricism really shines through in “LIFE ADMIN”, which has a core repetitive melody that the lyrics are almost spoken over, reflecting on the life he’s lived. Speaking directly to the listener, Rosenstock seems to acknowledge the successes he’s had, mentioning his time spent in Joshua Tree while working on the album, his ownership of property, and his recent tour with Slaughter Beach, Dog. Through this core concept, we see insecurity with his role as a song writer experiencing writer’s block, “living in fear that anyone will find out how I live.”
The album ends with the seven minute long “3 SUMMERS”, which has the most dynamic range in tempo compared to any other song within the album. Once again directly addressing the listener through the usage of “you,” Jeff Rosenstock doesn’t even go to the extent of creating a repetitive chorus, instead including a new section of his story in each line of the song. A perfect encapsulation of the album, “3 SUMMERS” is as dynamic, inventive, and slightly repetitive (only towards the end) as the rest of the experience he’s created through this release.
That is not to say the rest of the tracks are in any way dislikable, but where the genre of post-punk tends to excel is the intricate and complicated lyrics that are illustrated in this collection of songs. While other songs on the album, like “HEAD” and “GRAVEYARD SONG” are just as emotional and unique as the one’s featured here, the brilliance of HELLMODE is that each song feels like a unique experience while maintaining the core anxiety that is built into the concept of the album itself. While dedicated Jeff Rosenstock fans may not love the album as much as the his freshman release, We Cool?, or his sophomore album WORRY., HELLMODE is a solid evolution of Jeff Rosenstock for the new decade.
Photo Credits from: https://www.punkrocktheory.com/releases/jeff-rosenstock-hellmode
