Music review: Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (2008)

Damn, another meme to review. I'll try once again to ignore the massive hype and its quasi urban legend status.

Probably the best 2000s' shoegaze effort and one of the rare double album with enough substance to justify its length. In fact, I'd even compare it to another favourite of mine and important influence on the genre's genesis: Cocteau Twins' Heaven or Las Vegas. But where the Twins crafted their masterpiece as an ode to blissful nostalgia, this one is about languorous melancholia, like a strangely comfortable afternoon spent lying on your bed wondering if your life will ever contain meaning or happiness, all the while listening to Garbage's Shirley croon Why it feels so good to feel so sad?

But while I'm praising how evocative it managed to be, there's a point where they got the Twins beaten: consistency. There's basically no filler, not real weak moment; perhaps weaker, but never weak. Even more noteworthy in a 85 minutes runtime!

It even provides a surprising diversity in dynamics, with much more violence on the second disc ("Waiting for Black Metal Records to Come in the Mail" and "Deep, Deep")!

Last thing to mention is the al dente dirty and massive but still distinct sound textures. Like Swans, Joy Division or old black metal, it's really the ingredient tying good shoegaze works together.

Final score: 10. Yep. In fact, I had a 9 in my head before re-listening to it for the review! Only thing I'd change is I'd remove "There Is No Food" from the first disc, as the preceding "Who Would Leave Their Son Out in the Sun" is already a fine ambient closer, very strange idea to stick a second one immediately after!