The Antlers started out as a solo act fronted by the lead singer of the band, Peter Silberman. In many ways, even though there are more people behind him, The Antlers still feels like a solo act, especially on their breakout album, Hospice.
When this LP came out in 2009, it took the indie music world by storm, and won quite a few major awards, putting the band at the forefront of sad, concept driven indie music. For me, this LP was among a handful of LPs that introduced me to indie music when I was fifteen or so, and at the time I would have told you it was one of the finest pieces of music ever recorded. However, these days I hardly ever listen to it. Not because I think it is a poor album or that I just haven't been in the mood for it; rather I find that a lot of what makes this album a great initial listen tends to fade on additional ones, and that is how raw and personal it is.
Granted, those words describe some of my personal favorite LPs of all time, but with Hospice I feel that these descriptions only go so far. For instance, a song like "Sylvia" is captivating for how it goes from whisper quite vocals to bombastic rushes of guitar, but tracks like "Kettering" all but drown in effects and distortion, leaving the listener to dig through the noise to hear the lyrics.
In fact, that is perhaps my biggest complaint about this album, it tends to bury its good qualities in poor production. I know it was recorded with a tight budget, but I've heard bands with smaller budgets compose tracks that didn't cave in on themselves. That aside, I still find a lot to like about this LP, for example, tracks like "Bear" and "Two" are still as emotional and enjoyable as the first day I heard them, and while it can be pretty overbearing at points I do appreciate the effort to create feelings of genuine sadness throughout this LP.
So it may not be a "classic" to me, but I feel as though a lot of people would.
7.0/10
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