Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 110 Best Albums of the 2010s, representing a varied cross-section of artists, genres, and styles. Click “Next Album” below to explore each album in the list or for easier navigation, view the full introduction & album index here.
FATHER JOHN MISTY | Pure Comedy
Bella Union/Sub Pop (2017)
Selected by Jeremy Levine
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Most albums don’t have thesis statements, but this one sure does. The last lyrics to the essayish lead track (“Just random matter suspended in the dark / I hate to say it, but each other’s all we’ve got”) set us up for the meandering treatise to come. While a 74-minute philosophical concept album sounds unbearable, at the center of the record is unpretentious songwriting that takes advantages of all of Tillman’s tricks: there’s his always-beautiful voice at center stage in “The Memo” and “When The God Of Love Returns, There’ll Be Hell To Pay,” fascinating and uncomfortable harmony beneath “Leaving L.A.,” an obligatory sarcastic party song in “Total Entertainment Forever,” and even one completely unironic set of optimistic lyrics in “In Twenty Years or So.” So while Pure Comedy seems like it’s set up to be the most pretentious album of the decade, it turns out to not just be highly listenable, but also highly human.
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