From Coin Locker Kid’s “Quirkist” (Unreleased):

Starting off with a highly commendable narrative device: the unfinished album that Devyn will be at ends with for the rest of this record’s duration. The achieved soundscapes on all of this “Quirkist” section are especially mind-blowing due to how innovative they feel, personally.

Who’s a Shade of Virginia Woolf?: this introduction to the story sees Devyn Smith, the protagonist, battling with his fears; simultaneously comparing himself with Virginia Woolf, thus introducing fascist overtones, as well as his recurring —and enraging— artistic misunderstandings that are to come. Instrumentally, there is a wide array of wildly experimental things on this cut. It truly borders on indescribable, but if there’s anything that can be said is that it’s quite immersive and even beautiful in an almost supernatural way at times.

High 8.

Withering Heights.: Lyrically, this track is as poetic as it is elusive. There are undertones of inescapability and imprisonment, and they seem to be explored within an unsustainable relationship. Sonically, this cut is absolutely insane, truly. The ludicrous amount of static is a wonderful complement for all the harrowing sound design that surrounds Devyn’s vocals.

High 8.

The Ways. condemns and ridicules — but it is unclear who or what this is directed towards. It most likely is internalised, with the recurring difficulties mentioned being a consequence of Devyn’s artistic battle with himself. Instrumentally, this is arguably the most impressive of the three “Quirkist” songs, with the percussive elements being especially fantastic. Moreover, it also features the most fitting and interesting vocal performances of the last three tracks (in an applaudably off-kilter way).

Low-Mid 9.

Superflat outside of Quirkist:

Flabbergagger! is an absolutely incredible and challenging dive into Devyn’s head. The sheer amount of perspectives we are introduced to is impressive, to the point where it’s hard to even keep track of where he stands and what he thinks; all we know is turmoil, which is —stunningly— exactly the point.

Mid-High 9.

Signs & Signals. is a spoken word journal entry of how Devyn is feeling around the time of his bus drive to his first therapy session. Honestly, his condescending, pompous, and arrogant nature is quite irritating. This, however, is fully purposeful — and it powerfully sets up the next track in which he is made aware of how this hateful way of thinking afflicts him.

Therapist. uses a wildly creative device (the whispered voices) in order to continuously contrast Devyn’s psyche with his therapist’s remarks. The last line, “Do you feel like you’re in your body?”, completely flabbergasts him (wink, wink); which shows how unconscious he is in his day-to-day life due to his absolute immersion inside his own head. Overall, this is an impressively self-aware exposé of oneself.

High 8.

Demanding Visitor. re-introduces Devyn’s self-indulgent ego in the form of a robotic voice and some more harmful masturbation which leads to a “nasty cut on [his] penis” — which acts as some amazing foreshadowing. Moreover, his ideologies are as harmful as his masturbation; with him being negligent with his chickens —which represent his life outside of music—, engaging in a tremendous amount of self-praise, and even praising the American Genocide. This all leads to the creation of a new demo, “American Spirit” — and the next track is a setup for it.

Pioneer. introduces Simon, Devyn’s more down-to-earth friend, and also lets the listener in on how important this new demo is for Devyn; as he feels he’s touching on emotions and sonics he hasn’t explored before.

American Spirit. (Demo) is a morose and heartfelt ballad. As even Simon describes, later on, the lyrics are almost unintelligible and the song as a whole is quite personal in a way that’s not all that evocative. Overall, these past three tracks have been comparatively worse than everything that came before. However, this is an important part of the process for Devyn, as this demo was made from a place of self-hatred and acknowledgement of the Demanding Visitor’s views and opinions.

Process. makes it obvious where Devyn is coming from in his artistic creation, once again portraying him as an overwhelmingly egotistical artist with a holier-than-thou attitude. He’s immediately defensive when anyone poses a threat to his inflated character; swiftly shifting the blame on all of humanity, just so he’s not the one at fault. Additionally, it’s also worth mentioning that there hasn’t been anything apart from plain dialogue happening in the last couple of tracks. This leaves them quite dry and lacking in the more creative storytelling present elsewhere.

Mid 7.

Wake in Fright From Cedric LaMork’s “A Simple Butterfly” is a pretty blatant parody (and caricature) of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’. Here, LaMork describes himself as a “caterpillar” and as “Young”; both used to recognize that he’s immature and inexperienced (since this is also a metaphor used in TPAB). However, his lyrics are more provocative than Devyn’s, as Simon will later explain. This begins a parallel between the two — which breeds animosity in Devyn as they are being compared in their artistic maturity.

What’s Going On? With Larry Rhodes Segment continues on the world building of both “the republic”, the fascist country that parallels the USA; and Zembla, the impoverished island where Cedric LaMork is from. The struggles that LaMork speaks about are quite compelling, something that Devyn refuses to acknowledge due to how he sees LaMork himself — the villain to his own ego-centric narrative.

Discuss. is the logical conclusion to Devyn’s close-mindedness; his argument with Simon paints quite a clear message of where Devyn is coming from — from a place of self-hatred and endless critique sprouting from self-indulgence. He lacks proper argumentation in his points of view, and his vices blind him to the much more important struggles of the people of Zembla; for whom Cedric LaMork is a voice. All in all, this is the antagonistic peak for Devyn, when not even Simon can see eye to eye with him.

Mid 8.

The Grand Inquisitor. takes the most spiteful version of Devyn that we’ve seen and pits him against a more hateful and deceitful version of the Demanding Visitor, *The Grand Inquisitor*. This, of course, is all just happening in his head though; and it’s as wonderful as it is tragic.

Blindness. (Demo) provides overwhelming self-acceptance of Devyn’s thoughts. They are still twisted, mind you, as this song is coming from a place where he was just called a prophet by The Grand Inquisitor. However, his spite is more heartfelt, honest and directed towards actual issues outside of just himself. Additionally, the instrumental is quite interesting, using the “child’s drumset” mentioned in the previous track, as well as a very deep and enveloping bass tone.

Low 9.

Lie in Fear. sees Simon responding quite positively to this new demo, speaking about it sounding more honest and even boasting “really solid” audio quality. However, there is a constant crescendo of bleak uncertainty in the form of wind-like blurriness. This could suggest that Simon’s positive feedback is absolutely lost in Devyn’s cycle of self-centeredness, with this *blindness* acting as the final nail in the coffin before the climax that is the next track.

Flabberghast. is an absolutely fantastic turning point. Both narratively and stylistically; the absolutely unanticipated, comical, and simultaneously serious conversation between Devyn and his freshly ripped-off penis is an astonishing storytelling choice to introduce his change of character, addressing all of his flaws previously mentioned and opening a metaphorical window.

10.

The Window, Pt. 1. opens up with a beautifully bright amalgamation of miscellaneous nature noises, representing the opened window of emotions; singing and laughing with Simon in this newfound clarity.

The Window, Pt. 2 acts as a moment of unabashed honesty. Actually, with the clapping towards the end, it can even be said that this openness is even celebrated by those close to Devyn. Moreover, this change in disposition is beautifully represented by the shift in lyrics between the “I’m unafraid” line in “Who’s a Shade of Virginia Woolf”, and the eventual “I’m so afraid” one this time around. The instrumental parallels this, contrasting the highly experimental approach of the first couple of tracks with a fully acoustic rendition of what we now know are repressed feelings.

Low 9.

Confess. is quite a bleak, saddening, and —most of all— unsettling relapse into seclusion as Devyn realises how afraid he is. Regardless of this being a step forward, the uncertainty that comes with this newfound awareness is absolutely overwhelming; to the point that his penis, a previous voice of reason and level-headedness, now takes an antagonistic role as well.

Mortal Mannequin.: Here, Devyn continues his slippery slope after the acceptance and painful recognition of his self-destructive habits, as well as his admission of all the horrible things happening in the fascist dystopia in which he is set — which parallels quite commendably as a critique of modern life and the USA; especially during the Donald Trump presidency because of the wall that keeps getting mentioned. This continuation downwards sees Devyn speaking to Thom Yorke, his hero; leading to a disheartening conversation where Thom Yorke comes across as quite detached. He tells Devyn to “let go” and ignore his problems — which is exactly what he’s been recently able to avoid doing. Overall, it can be said that Devyn takes this as quite a stinging disappointment… at a point where he was already overly vulnerable.

Creep (Radiohead Cover) opens up with the sounds of birds, representing an open window — though only slightly. They slowly start turning into the sounds of chickens: a leisurely increase in dread for the outside world and Devyn’s own feelings. As he begins to sing the lines of “she’s running out the door”, footsteps can be heard as Thom Yorke gets up and leaves the room. It is here that an overwhelming sadness can be heard in Devyn’s voice, compellingly complemented by a string section playing Radiohead’s ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’.

The Year of the Rooster.: Here, Mandy has come back. As simple as this may sound, there are a lot of moving pieces in this conclusion. She asks if Devyn has fed the chickens, to which he responds by recognising that he hasn’t and immediately getting up to do it. This paints quite a bittersweet picture, in which Devyn is able to attend to something that seemed impossible and overwhelming moments before, but with a lack of self-sufficiency. Overall, Devyn is able to take this change head-on, but with a suggested co-dependence. This is paralleled by the first line of the whole album “In the year of the serpent”, a symbol for “malevolence”; contrasting the *The Year of the Rooster.* title, which is a symbol for “punctuality”. This makes sense as both Mandy and Devyn get up and attend to their responsibilities after an alarm clock featuring a rooster. Additionally, the release year for this record, 2017, was indeed a rooster year [1]. All in all, this album was a wonderful journey, and this tail end was an incredibly powerful amalgamation of emotion, adversities, and a successful —albeit overbearing— maturation.

10.

Sources:

[1] What is Chinese zodiac? Chinese Zodiac: 12 Animal Signs, Calculator, Origin, App. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/