Midlake: The Courage of Others

Well Pitchfork has dropped the ball yet again so, being a highly respected blogger now (yeah right), I will pick it up. This is the new Album by Midlake, from Denton, TX. It’s a really solid album just like Midlake is a really solid band. Over the years, they seem to have found a groove, musically, and have created a very rich, full sound for themselves. The Courage of Others is no different. Understandably, it’s hard to follow their last album The Trials of Van Occupanther, which in my opinion is about as close as you can get to a “perfect” album. As an album, Courage is a bit more sullen than previous offers, but still completely delivers what you would expect from a great band like Midlake. There’s not a chance that it deserves a ridiculous rating like a 3.6. This is just another example of Pitchfork’s inability to look past their own foolish expectations and failure to be consistent with their random, and increasingly untrustable rating system. So, my rating is a 136 out of 10. Ok, that’s maybe a bit overboard but, in my eyes, if Van Occupanther is a 9 or 10, Courage is a firm 7. And in the future, if the next Midlake release happens to fall even slightly short of my hopes, you can be sure the review will be consistent with this one. There’s no reason to drop a great album multiple points because they don’t pander to your elitist expectations. This is how you gain and maintain credibility. Thanks for reading my ranting and enjoy the album because it deserves it. Here are a couple tracks to check out…

Midlake - Acts of Man

Midlake - Rulers, Ruling All Things