Twenty One Pilots: Choker / Shy Away Single Review
I hated Trench, but I held a lot of respect for the band’s evolution and unique style of sound. But with these two new singles after “Level of Concern,” that respect I held for them is flushed down the toilet.
Two steps forward, and five steps back.
I really hated Twenty One Pilots’ last album. I have never liked rap music, and I have never liked Twenty One Pilots to begin with, although I could enjoy a select few songs. But despite the genre and delivery, I hold a lot of respect for Twenty One Pilots. Or at least, I did, until they had to turn around and pull a Kaiser Chiefs on us.
Twenty One Pilots is unique because they are a rap duo, but it’s a kind of rap even I could learn to love. Honestly, I’m more embarrassed than I’d like to admit how much I love “Ride” from their 2015 record, Blurryface. I didn’t enjoy Trench because it was more of a rap album than anything else they had released thus far, but that’s not to say I didn’t think it was a bad move from the band. It was simply a genre of music I couldn’t find myself enjoying.
When “Level of Concern” was released, I was not the only disappointed critic – fan of the band or not. But I simply assumed it was an effect of the pandemic; so many great bands in 2020 released music not quite on par in an attempt to either push anything out or to get ahead of the times before everything blew over.
I’m not sure how many people expected for this trend to continue. Rather than jumping off of the sound that they had evolved from Trench, “Choker” revisits the band’s Blurryface vibes whilst simultaneously dropping absolutely everything they have worked for in their sound.
What is this? Yes, I would so much prefer to listen to either of these songs compared to Trench, but while I hate rap music, hearing “Choker” and “Shy Away” after hearing the rest of their discography makes me want to cry. Remember when Kaiser Chiefs took a 180 and decided to start writing electronic pop songs all of a sudden? It’s happening again, and from the duo you would’ve least expected it from.
As songs individually, either one barely meets the bar if at all. “Choker” starts off amazing with the tumbling drums, whining synths and mumbling vocals, and the melody isn’t half bad. But of course it had to be ruined by the underwater sound of the chorus. It’s been so overused at this point; it’s specifically reminiscent of Linkin’ Park’s last album with the tone of the lyrics. It’s basically slamming the mood of the depressing but slightly hopeful tone into our face and then rubbing it in further. The song did have a rap, but it’s the least memorable portion of the song. It didn’t even its own kicker or hook, just “Hey, remember how we’re supposed to be a rap duo kind of? Yeah, so we’re gonna rap now, ’cause that’s what we do.” The song never reaches a conclusion or a climax, and while it is a melody I could start singing and not get angry, I doubt anyone will be able to remember the song in future years.
And you can’t tell me “Shy Away” doesn’t ring any bells for you, either. It doesn’t start off as strong as the former, and it has a melody that I swear I have heard a million times before. Unlike the melancholy mood of “Choker,” “Shy Away” is upbeat – almost giddy in comparison – and it’s frankly sickening. Both songs follow a tedious structural path with the two verses followed by the chorus, and “Shy Away” just *had* to repeat the chorus not twice, but nearly three times. They tried to pull it off like a bridge, but it just sounds like a more progressive chorus – at times, it seems like they just copy/pasted the chorus instead of recording it three times.
I doubted before that I would ever fully enjoy a Twenty One Pilots’ record, and now I can almost guarantee it. There’s a part of me that still holds out on the band that they’ll go back to their roots while still allowing themselves to evolve; if they are reduced to just another band stooping down to write tedious pop songs, the world will have truly suffered a great loss.
Rating: 2/5
Wow, this is very harsh. I must admit that “level of concern” and “shy away” weren’t my all-time favorite, but they grew onto me. I feel like you haven’t dived enough into the Twenty-One Pilots universe to make such hard critics. The first sign is that you think Trench was a rap album… but not any more than Blurryface or Vessel or their self-titled one… I literally went ahead to count the songs with rap or not… it’s around 6 out of twelve for every album… You clearly haven’t listened to every song: Smithereens, Legends, Chlorine, Leave the City, etc.
I loved Choker, and the rap verse was the cherry on top; a throwback to the Self-titled era’s style. I don’t know where that “we’re kinda supposed to be a rap band” argument comes from.. Maybe 3 years is a long time, but “Hey remember” isn’t a very compelling argument to discard the idea of putting a rap verse in their song jsut ’cause it’s been a long time since Trench. Plus, the rap was smooth with a nice flow. Perhaps did you feel it was out of place because I didn’t. Even if you will forget this song, I won’t, so don’t put all people in the same basket. If you hate the band’s music, why do you expect the song to be memorable to you. You can not like the song, but you can’t expect some band to create music that you, Madeline, will never forget. The skeleton clique will remember these songs for years to come. Casual listeners might like, might not, I’m not one to tell, but you are not either. You clearly stated you hate what the band creates.
The lyrics of Lane Boy, back in the Blurryface era make me unafraid of his future musical creations, because he tells us he is very aware of his internal conflict between what he wants to make and what music the industry is asking for.
Call me biased for loving the band, but I am not scared of their new album’s quality. If you are afraid that the band is forgetting its roots, then you do not understand what they are all about. I mean, the band has always switched up the vibes of their albums, are you really mad ‘cuz it’s not the same as Trench? or Blurryface? It’s still the same music style, they’re just using a different way of presenting it to us. I’m anxious to listen to the Scaled and Icy.
I am not saying YOU ARE WRONG, I am only trying to say that your opinion is way too set in stone, and insulting for something you do not seem to have given enough time to. If you don’t want to spend more time on it, fine, just don’t write an article on “the fall of the rising duo that lost touch with reality and that disapointed the whole world and blablablablabla” just because you didn’t like their last 2 songs…