Dustin's Best of 2017, #5: Alex Lahey - 'I Love You Like a Brother'

I didn't expect to like this album as much as I did. I saw Alex Lahey's name on some "best new artists" list, read a comparison to Courtney Barnett and thought it sounded like something I might enjoy. As it turns out, she doesn't really sound like Courtney Barnett. If anything, Lahey is kind of like the Green Day to Barnett's Nirvana- the music is peppier, the choruses are sweeter, and overall there's a very different personality going on here even if they both display a knack for slacker sensibilities.

Anyway, back to I Love You Like a Brother: I've always been able to appreciate break-up albums and songs, but this year I learned a hard truth: they don't hurt as much when your heart is still intact, but they hurt way, way more when it's not. Rejection isn't fun to begin with, and it's only worse when it comes from someone you thought wouldn't ever do it. This past fall I pulled all of the classic moves of someone who had been turned down: I stopped shaving, I stopped sleeping regularly, I started eating take-out all the time, and in general I felt terrible about myself. Hearing "I Haven't Been Taking Care of Myself" for the first time hit home for me, and I don't know how it hasn't become a bigger song, at least within my group of friends. And on the reverse side of things, "Awkward Exchange" felt like it was written about me, but as the person doing the rejecting. It didn't make me feel great (as the song puts it,  I was "a bit of a dick") it really helped put things in perspective for me: after hurting someone and betraying their trust, you can't expect them to immediately be okay with continuing to be friends afterwards (or ever, in some cases).

Not to say that this is specifically a break-up album: "Every Day's the Weekend" is an ode to being with that one person who makes it feel as if time has no meaning, and the title track is about Lahey's literal brother. And while those two songs are the ones that hooked me in, it's the sadder and lower moments that kept me listening.

You can listen to I Love You Like a Brother below.

Recommended tracks: "Every Day's the Weekend," "I Love You Like a Brother," "I Haven't Been Taking Care of Myself," "Awkward Exchange," "I Want U"


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