The Daily Spin, June 14

Will Wood | The Normal Album

Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023. 

Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.

If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!

---

Album: The Normal Album (2020)

Artist: Will Wood

Link:   

   

Way back in January, I reviewed another of Will Wood’s works, and a lot of those same criticisms and positives carry through here, with the added bonus of some additional theatric flair (which, honestly, feels like it’s a bit of an achievement, given that I thought his previous work we looked at was plenty theatric).

As with yesterday’s album, I think it misses more than it hits. Where Callison knew to step back on occasion, Wood sneers and says “watch this”, punching the gas like Lightning McQueen heading off that cliff that first time. 

Both albums are deeply theatric, and it leaves me wondering if maybe I’d enjoy them more from the perspective of a performance, but I can’t isolate the music that way in this listening case, and as such, they both fall into the category of Not For Me. 

Callison shies away from the drama, but Wood embraces it, a convoluted commentary on the struggles of neurodivergent people to fit into modern society (for which he’s not wrong, to be clear) that trips over itself as much as it steps right, the sugar-drunk toddler, knife in hand, running towards the open landscape ahead. 

Moments of joy are quickly overshadowed by irritating hooks and lyrics that leave plenty to be desired - if this is a commentary on being abnormal in a normal world, it may have gotten the job done, but I think it could have been so comfortably achieved with a fraction of the hysteria and drama. 

---

Rating: 4.1/10

Best Tracks: Love, Me Normally

Worst Tracks: Suburbia Overture; I / Me / Myself; BlackBoxWarrior; Outliars and Hyppocrates