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''Predatory Headlights'' is a double album by Appleton, Wisconsin-based rock group
Tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
. It was released in June 2015 by New York-based record label
Don Giovanni Records Don Giovanni Records is an independent record label originally specializing in punk rock from the New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene but eventually working with a variety of artists from different genres. History Don Giovanni Records was fo ...
. Perhaps due to its length and frequent genre cross-over, it was initially ignored by many established music publications but eventually ended up on ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
's'' "15 Great Albums You Didn't Hear In 2015" list and '' Spin'' magazine's "2015 Overlooked Albums Report". According to ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', the album "Highlights the strongest aspects of the group's songwriting". It was ranked #100 by ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' on their 2015
Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abs ...
critics poll. The album's lyrical themes were largely influenced by Amos Pitsch's observations, musings, and experiences as he traversed America in the summer of 2012, playing drums for a reunion tour of 1970s power pop group,
The Nerves The Nerves were an American power pop trio formed in 1974 and based in Los Angeles, California featuring guitarist Jack Lee, bassist Peter Case, and drummer Paul Collins. All three members composed songs and sang. They managed an internation ...
. The song lyrics and accompanying album art draw on prominent motifs of Americana in an effort to reflect the darker aspects of America and its political and social climates. Iggy Pop played three songs from ''Predatory Headlights'' on the March 4th, 2016 episode of his
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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radio show and proclaimed, "Hats off Tenement, You got big balls." An 8th grade English class in Nablus, Palestine were tasked with the assignment to individually review ''Predatory Headlights'' in the spring of 2016. The reviews were sent to Amos Pitsch with a warning from their teacher, Mr. Alex: "The kids who wrote the reviews are really great kids, but have some very strange musical taste, most listen to Palestinian Dubkeh, or Egyptian and Lebanese Pop, so your music was a bit strange and foreign to some of them.” Many of the children focused on "creepy" and "nightmare" elements of the music and spoke of concrete ideas that abstract or instrumental passages in the songs made them think of, such as the sounds of bells representing a "ghost city" and the buzzing string sections in "Hive of Hives" sounding like the buzzing of bees. Pitsch commented to 88Nine Radio Milwaukee that it was interesting to observe how the children picked up on deeper themes in the music and how dynamics in the music emotionally affect the listener, while many professional music critics utilize reviews to home in on what other groups or musicians they can compare a record to. In August 2018, Tenement released the
Mark Borchardt Mark Borchardt (born August 20, 1966) is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film ''American Movie'', which documented three years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short, ''Coven (1997 f ...
-directed music video for "Garden Of Secrecy", which was filmed over the course of three years in the countrysides of Appleton, Madison, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In an essay for ''
Talkhouse Talkhouse is a digital media outlet and online magazine created in 2013 by Ian Wheeler and Tim Putnam. Musicians, actors, and filmmakers share their experiences in their respective fields in personal essays, discuss their peers’ work in editor ...
'', Borchardt stated that the basic concept for the video was to "capture the Wisconsin landscape" and elaborated, " Wisconsin has always been a silent influence on my work. Wherever you’re born in the world, that’s what you’re familiar with; that’s what you work with, and that’s what inspires you. To say that this, that, or the other thing is because of Wisconsin… It’s like, look man, there’s a whole world out there. There are thousands of cities and everyone believes that their special place is unique. In shooting in this part of Wisconsin, I don’t have to create a fantasy—it’s the area I’m familiar with. It’s a place I dearly love". In Episode 4, Season 2 of
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series ''
13 Reasons Why ''13 Reasons Why'' is an American teen drama television series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey and based on the 2007 novel ''Thirteen Reasons Why'' by author Jay Asher. The series revolves around high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan M ...
'' , a poster depicting the cover artwork for Predatory Headlights is seen hanging on protagonist
Clay Jensen Clay Jason Jensen is a fictional character created by author Jay Asher. He is the protagonist in ''Thirteen Reasons Why'', a novel written for teenagers where a girl, Hannah Baker, commits suicide. Clay is also the main character in the Netflix tel ...
's bedroom wall. Speaking to Screen Rant, production designer Diane Lederman explained, "
Brian Yorkey Brian Yorkey is an American playwright and lyricist. His works often explore dark and controversial subject matter such as mental illness, grief, the underbelly of suburbia, and ethics in both psychiatry and public education. Early life Yorkey w ...
has a lot to do with Clay’s bedroom; that was a very personal journey for him. We worked closely with
Dylan Minnette Dylan Christopher Minnette (born December 29, 1996) is an American actor, musician and singer. He is known for his role as Clay Jensen in the Netflix drama series '' 13 Reasons Why''. He has made guest appearances in several television series, s ...
to choose all of the music posters on his walls. It had to feel right for the character." Upon release of ''Predatory Headlights'', Tenement toured the United States several times both on their own and with peers such as Indiana hardcore punk band Big Zit, soul singer Charles Bradley, Philadelphia rock group
Sheer Mag Sheer Mag is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formed in 2014. A combination of 1970s rock and punk ethos, the band continued to gather attention, releasing three 7-inch EPs before March 2016.Richards, Chris ( ...
, Direct Hit!, Dusk, Florida's Golden Pelicans, and Black Thumb. They also spent time on the road in Canada, Scandinavia, and Mexico. Mexican metal magazine ''Clinic Diafragma'' wrote of their show in Mexico City: "Last night we slipped into one of the most extravagant punk sanctuaries in Mexico City to experience the Tenement experience. Acclaimed by Iggy Pop and many other global rock stars. .. A guy I met at the entrance to the forum was so excited to see this band. For him and many others present, it was really a dream come true. The emotional moment of seeing Tenement live was all a multi-dimensional experience ..Unfortunately, not everything was healthy fun, as a public loquillo headed for Amos and verbally assaulted him while the group was in action. The frontman was annoyed, kicked away that leech, and even if you do not believe it, they stopped playing abruptly and disconnected all their equipment."


Reception

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'': "Mr. Pitsch will write half of a song that could have been a modern-rock radio hit 20 years ago, then break through the three-minute barrier and move the ABA form toward C, D, and E sections, minimalism, drones and process music. About a third of the album uses a compositional palette of strings, out-of-tune pianos, household percussion instruments and outdoor recordings. None of it is haphazard; every song is a puzzle, an attempt to connect varied impulses, shaped with a beginning and an end." ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
'': "With some judicious trimming, Predatory Headlights could have been a creative breakthrough and a great listen from front to back; as it is, this is a good album whose occasional nosedives into pretentiousness keep it from being great, though despite its flaws, it's well worth a listen and confirms Tenement are a band with remarkable promise." ''Punknews'': " A strange dichotomy is achieved on this album between that which is melodic and poppy, and that which is dark and atmospheric. It is jarring, and for the most part it works to lend Tenement a certain depth of artistry that many contemporaries are unable to bring to the table. It ultimately serves to make Tenement a more interesting, complex musical entity." Shortly after release, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' ranked ''Predatory Headlights'' #1 on their Month's Best Music list, stating "Here's a rock album that's instantly pleasurable, but demands commitment." Sahan Jayasuria stated in '' Milwaukee Magazine'' that he believed ''Predatory Headlights'' to be "the most impressive album to come out of Wisconsin in the last decade". In a 2015 profile piece on Tenement for
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
's ''
Grantland ''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed e ...
'', Steven Hyden maintained that perhaps Big Star's ''Third'' was a more fitting influence for ''Predatory Headlights'' than
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
' comparisons to The Rolling Stones' ''Exile On Main Street'', Husker Du's ''Zen Arcade'', and The Minutemen's ''Double Nickels On The Dime''. ''Predatory Headlights'' was mentioned in an August 2015 piece on
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
entitled, "Does Anybody Even Have Time For An 80-minute Album?". ''
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'' proved indecisive in its assessment of ''Predatory Headlights''; ranking it favorably but waxing critically about its length and focus while adding, "Depending on whether you think of 'punk rock' as a sonic descriptor or a philosophy, records like ''Predatory Headlights'' are either the least or most punk-rock move possible." In ''Cretins Of Distortion'' 's multi-page review of ''Predatory Headlights'', Tenement is painted as a band which defies the prioritization of commercial appeal in pop music in favor of free expression. They note that "it's a record that from the second you peel back the shrink wrap, confusion begins" and claim that "Tenement's most admirable feat is not accepting a crowd's taste as their sound; not writing songs to propel their career as musicians". ''Predatory Headlights'' found its way onto many 2015 best-of lists, including but not limited to: ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' 's "Best Music Of 2015", ''
New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...
'' 's "The 10 Best Albums Of 2015", ''
The Newspaper ''The Newspaper'' is the largest independent student newspaper in Canada with circulation on and around the University of Toronto. It has been published by non-profit corporation Planet Publications Inc. and financially self-supported since its ...
'' 's "Albums Of the Year 2015", ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' ' "The Best Albums Of 2015", Noise rock group
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's "Albums Of The Year" for ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' with the note, "The whole album is so powerful. The record is so powerful that it creates its own vibe. Which is kinda a hard thing to do in modern day music, especially when you're three white guys living in Wisconsin. It's incredible.", '' Slate'' 's "Top Ten Albums",
Wisconsin Public Radio Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 34 public radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the ''Ideas Network'' and the '' NPR News & Music Network,'' as well as the ''All Classic ...
's "The Best Wisconsin Music Of 2015", '' Milwaukee Magazine'' 's "Top 15 of 2015: The Best Albums Of The Year", '' Impose'' 's "The Best Albums Of 2015", ''FREEwilliamsburg'' 's "Top 25 Albums Of 2015", ''
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'' 's "Top Albums Of 2015" and ''Affinity Magazine'' 's "13 Sweet Albums of Summer '15". In August 2022, ''
Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential crit ...
'' called Predatory Headlights "nothing short of one of the most unsung records of the 2010s"


Track listing

All compositions by Amos Pitsch. # "Theme of The Cuckoo" # "Crop Circle Nation" # "Dull Joy" # "Feral Cat Tribe" # "The Shriveled Finger" # "Harvest Time (Has Come)" # "Under The Storm Clouds" # "Ants & Flies" # "Garden of Secrecy" # "The Butcher" # "Whispering Kids" # "Curtains Closed" # "Why Are We Where We Are" # "You Keep Me Cool" # "Cold The Pavement Is" # "Heavy Odor" # "A Frightening Place for Normal People" # "Licking A Wound" # "I'm Your Super Glue" # "Hive of Hives" # "The Dishwasher's Meal" # "Keep Your Mouth Shut" # "Foreign Phrase" # "Near You" # "Afraid of The Unknown"


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2015 albums Tenement (band) albums Don Giovanni Records albums