There was some discussion here when the earlier singles for this album came out, so I figured it was worth posting the full album now that's out (as of today, September 5).

https://ladispute.bandcamp.com/album/no-one-was-driving-the-car

Have you listened yet? What do you think? Standout songs? What did you think of the rollout for this album? (If you're unaware, the band released nearly the full album, except for the final two songs, over the past several months. They essentially released each "chapter" in the story of the album as individual EPs or singles.)

For me, this is miles better than PANORAMA was, and I'm glad that I held off on listening to anything after Environmental Catastrophe Film was released until this full album drop. I sort of hated the rollout for that, but I also think I understand why they did it.

I don't think it tops Rooms of the House, but it's absolutely among the band's top three (with Wildlife being the third in that mix). It really does feel like a mashup of the urgency/aggression of Wildlife and the artistry of Rooms of the House, and brings in some of the band's spoken word releases as well.

Environmental Catastrophe Film is the best song on the record, but that was going to be hard to beat because it may be the band's best song in general -- certainly their best song in a decade. Steve has also caught my attention each time it's come up in my play throughs.

The concept of song of the summer is something I’ve only recently learned about but looking back I can definitely see how that concept influenced radio play when I was younger.

Even as the radio started declining songs were still being deemed “song of the summer.”

2024: Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

2023: Flowers - Miley Cyrus

2022: As it Was - Harry Styles

2021: Butter - BTS

2020: Levitating - Dua Lipa

There’s for sure secondary songs you can choose (Good Luck Babe by Chappelle Roan for 2024 and Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles for 2020 as examples). But generally something broke out and became cultural moments.

It appears that Alex Warren’s Ordinary and three Morgan Wallen’s songs topped the charts this summer. Not the pop infused dance music “song of the summer” is usually referring to. It did seem like people were looking at Just Keep Watching by Tate McRae or Fame is a Gun by Addison Rae but they never really took off. It seems like Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter was the highest charting pop song but did not reach the heights of Espresso last year.

Looking at music subreddits people seem in agreement that the charts this year have been a mess, muted, with new music not breaking through. Also appears that Americans are leaning into country and/or Christian music.