{"id":1962,"date":"2014-09-10T11:03:24","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T15:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=1962"},"modified":"2014-09-16T11:56:23","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T15:56:23","slug":"merchandise-after-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Merchandise <br>After the End"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1963\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg\" alt=\"Merchandise, After the End\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>Don\u2019t be fooled. Though Gainesville, Florida\u2019s Merchandise have warned us that they have \u201cblown up\u201d their former selves, version 1.0 of the band, and have opted to go for broke as a \u201cpop\u201d band, they\u2019ve been making dark elegant pop the whole time. They\u2019ve just been creating sonic illusions along the way in order to maintain their stridently independent and hardcore roots. I would place their excellent second album, 2012\u2019s <i>Children of Desire<\/i>, right alongside their new foray, <i>After the End<\/i> (4AD), in terms of hooks and sweeping choruses, only the former was obfuscated with static and extenuate atmosphere. It was an album that forced deep exploration of imagined layers that weren\u2019t there and a suspension of time, as singer Carson Cox and company played odes to the inflated melancholy of \u201980s Brits without an ounce of forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>But all said, <i>After the End<\/i> does shed every bit of skin from the past and enters into the grand luxury of shimmering, slick, and hugely sophisticated statements that could undoubtedly shift the focus of where pop is headed. While the record was recorded in the same DIY spirit as previous albums (by the band at their communal home and studio), the gloss comes courtesy of mixer Gareth Jones, famous for producing Depeche Mode and Tuxedomoon, among many others. Surely, though, most of the vision is that of Merchandise. But the bells and whistles and the ear for radio-ready baubles must be the product of Jones\u2019 direction, and his influence here should not be understated. And though throughout most of <i>After the End<\/i> it\u2019s an entertaining game of spot the pilfered effect, as a whole it could easily be confused as a lost masterpiece by one of many sub-stardom \u201980s archetypes like The Church or the Waterboys.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, it\u2019s Merchandise\u2019s maximalist approach in culling from extremes of a particular era that makes <i>After the End<\/i> so rewarding. Plastic arpeggios plucked from Duran Duran\u2019s \u201cRio\u201d start the effusive \u201cEnemy,\u201d as the crisp, meadow-meal guitars of an Aztec Camera song dot the melody. On \u201cGreen Lady,\u201d woodblocks that could\u2019ve have been lifted from Level 42 butt up against massive low buzzsaw waves that recall everything from The Mission UK to (gasp) U2. But the latter is exactly the kind of reach Merchandise is aiming for with <i>After the End<\/i>: anthems that have just as much impact weeping in a darkened dorm room circa 1987 as they do at Wembley Stadium. \u201cLittle Killer\u201d has that impact and it\u2019s also the album\u2019s most original track, much more believable as a paean to the past and a thrust into the near-future than something rote like The Horrors.<\/p>\n<p><i>After the End<\/i>, though, is only almost there. There are still a few nagging qualities of Merchandise that remove the velocity from the handful of stunning moments, most notably the maudlin Morrissey-vamping of singer Carson Cox. It\u2019s not that he does it wrong, it\u2019s that it happens so much it begins to bog down the proceedings to almost bloated levels. The otherwise inventive and shanty-worthy sway of \u201cLooking Glass Waltz\u201d is a total bummer thanks to Cox\u2019s dramatic navel-gazing. The same can be said for the penultimate title track, where the band, in death-march mode, sounds as if they themselves don\u2019t know where this album should end. Thankfully \u201cExile and Ego\u201d saves the day (and the record) by mixing all of those bright, kaleidoscopic traits into a concise, nearly-acoustic lament. Trimmed of the flubs, <i>After the End<\/i> could be an album of the year contender. Regardless, it\u2019s one of 2014\u2019s biggest surprises and proof that almost everything from the \u201980s\u2014from Go West to the Thompson Twins\u2014has some sort of merit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don\u2019t be fooled. Though Gainesville, Florida\u2019s Merchandise have warned us that they have \u201cblown up\u201d their former selves, version 1.0 of the band, and have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[835,34,743],"class_list":["post-1962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-4ad","tag-album-review","tag-merchandise"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Merchandise After the End - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Merchandise After the End - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t be fooled. Though Gainesville, Florida\u2019s Merchandise have warned us that they have \u201cblown up\u201d their former selves, version 1.0 of the band, and have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-10T15:03:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-16T15:56:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin J. Ellliott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin J. Ellliott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin J. Ellliott\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/f12f599738453269a36b6d5b0284f4ef\"},\"headline\":\"Merchandise After the End\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-10T15:03:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-16T15:56:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/\"},\"wordCount\":631,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"4AD\",\"Album Review\",\"Merchandise\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Album Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/\",\"name\":\"Merchandise After the End - The Agit Reader\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-10T15:03:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-16T15:56:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Merchandise, After the End\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Merchandise After the End\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\",\"name\":\"The Agit Reader\",\"description\":\"a music webzine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Agit Reader\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg\",\"width\":339,\"height\":149,\"caption\":\"The Agit Reader\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/agitreader\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/f12f599738453269a36b6d5b0284f4ef\",\"name\":\"Kevin J. Ellliott\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00170ab8d1bbbc0bd1c72a526cd0fb0803cb80063c78736adc63f6c1bc062331?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00170ab8d1bbbc0bd1c72a526cd0fb0803cb80063c78736adc63f6c1bc062331?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Kevin J. Ellliott\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/author\/kevinjelliott\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Merchandise After the End - The Agit Reader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Merchandise After the End - The Agit Reader","og_description":"Don\u2019t be fooled. Though Gainesville, Florida\u2019s Merchandise have warned us that they have \u201cblown up\u201d their former selves, version 1.0 of the band, and have","og_url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/","og_site_name":"The Agit Reader","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader","article_published_time":"2014-09-10T15:03:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-09-16T15:56:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Kevin J. Ellliott","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@agitreader","twitter_site":"@agitreader","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin J. Ellliott","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin J. Ellliott","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/f12f599738453269a36b6d5b0284f4ef"},"headline":"Merchandise After the End","datePublished":"2014-09-10T15:03:24+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-16T15:56:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/"},"wordCount":631,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg","keywords":["4AD","Album Review","Merchandise"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/","url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/","name":"Merchandise After the End - The Agit Reader","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg","datePublished":"2014-09-10T15:03:24+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-16T15:56:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merchandise-after_the_end.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Merchandise, After the End"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/merchandise-after-the-end\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Merchandise After the End"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/","name":"The Agit Reader","description":"a music webzine","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization","name":"The Agit Reader","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg","width":339,"height":149,"caption":"The Agit Reader"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader","https:\/\/x.com\/agitreader"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/f12f599738453269a36b6d5b0284f4ef","name":"Kevin J. Ellliott","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00170ab8d1bbbc0bd1c72a526cd0fb0803cb80063c78736adc63f6c1bc062331?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00170ab8d1bbbc0bd1c72a526cd0fb0803cb80063c78736adc63f6c1bc062331?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Kevin J. Ellliott"},"url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/author\/kevinjelliott\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Up74-vE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1962"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1969,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions\/1969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}