Music reviews are carefully thought out pieces constructed after multiple listens and every element is turned over on the record or track. FIRST POUR is a feature that aims to bottle up the knee jerk reactions our writers have while listening to an album for the very first time. All writers participating in the feature will both be listening to the same album and relaying their thoughts and feels over instant messaging.

Author’s Note: The great writers over at ‘The Grey Estates’ also have a similar feature that’s well done and worth checking out.

Following up an universally praised record like Since I Left You is a monolithic task, even for the guys who made it, The Avalanches. Admittedly, Trevon and I headed into this First Pour session with cynicism and low expectations, mostly based on our lukewarm reaction to the record’s first single, “Frankie Sinatra”.

Is there really a “sophomore slump” if the follow up took 16 years? While I feel like the amount of years put into recording Wildflower have been greatly exaggerated, it’ll most certainly be one of the squawking points. In between albums, the mystique of The Avalanches wore off (I recommend reading Stereogum’s take on that), only two of the five principle members remain, and a ton of sessions were scrapped. But here we are, 16 years later (as Trevon has repeatedly reminded me), we have a new record from The Avalanches, and its a pretty trip.

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[caption id=“attachment_4686” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “The Leaves Were Falling” + “Because I’m Me”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4706” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Because I’m Me”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4705” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Frankie Sinatra”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4687” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Subways”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4688” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Going Home”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4689” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Colours”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4690” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “If I Was A Folkstar”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4691” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Zap!”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4692” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “The Noisy Eater”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4693” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Wildflower”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4694” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Harmony”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4695” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Live A Lifetime of Love”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4696” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Park Music”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4697” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Livin Underwater”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4698” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] The Wozard of Iz”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4699” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Over The Turnstile”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4700” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Sunshine”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4701” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Light Up”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4702” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] Kaleidoscopic Lovers”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4703” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Stepkids”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4704” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] “Saturday Night Inside Out”[/caption]

[caption id=“attachment_4711” align=“aligncenter” width=“502”] Final Thoughts[/caption]

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https://soundcloud.com/theavalanches/colours

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