{"id":8785,"date":"2018-10-30T12:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T16:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/?p=8785"},"modified":"2018-10-30T12:00:53","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T16:00:53","slug":"cults-and-crises-twenty-one-pilots-trench","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/2018\/10\/30\/cults-and-crises-twenty-one-pilots-trench\/","title":{"rendered":"Cults and Crises: Twenty One Pilots’ Trench"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty One Pilots\u2019 <\/span>Trench, <\/span><\/i>appropriately released during the month of Halloween, is an introspective masterpiece. One of the band\u2019s best concept albums, the songs deal with darker themes like identity crises and creepy cults, and showcase heavier sounds. They all fit to tell the non-linear narrative of Nicolas Bourbaki and reference old story-lines and narratives from past albums like <\/span>Blurryface. <\/span><\/i>I found myself listening to the album over and over again, and there a very few tracks I did not grow to love.<\/span><\/p>\n

The album begins with a grungy, hard hitting bass lick, soon accompanied by an electric guitar. \u201cJumpsuit\u201d is filled with anger and angst, beginning with the lines: \u201cI can’t believe how much I hate.\u201d It is arguably the most popular song on the album. The well shot music video mirrors the song’s heavy sound, depicting Tyler and his banditos being chased by mysteriously cloaked figures. The bridge of the song is a beautiful surprise, slowing down completely. In an almost ballad-like fashion, singer Tyler Joseph sings some violent lyrics. He says, \u201c<\/span>If you need anyone, I’ll stop my plans\/But you’ll have to tie me down and then break both my hands.\u201d His falsetto certainly contrasts with the words, creating an ethereal and even disturbing atmosphere. I loved this sudden shift, though many tracks on the album exhibited a similar transition and it soon became predictable. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tyler\u2019s climax in the song is an extended growl, and we are then immediately thrust into the next song which begins the same way \u201cJumpsuit\u201d ends. \u201cLevitate\u201d, featuring Tyler\u2019s signature rapping, likely deals with imagination and perhaps some drug use. I assumed Nico was the character Tyler adopted in the song, singing about being followed by a mysterious group that thirsts for blood and circles above him (according to the lyrics). The music video also hints at this idea of running from a cult like group, likely the banditos (bandits from Mexico). Genius lyrics points to the fact that \u201c\u2018Bandito\u2019 is titled after the group of rebels within the dystopian city of Dema, on which most of the album is based.\u201d The actual track \u201cBandito\u201d, eleventh on the album, dwells on a single bandito (the character Clancy) learning to accept his new membership as part of the group. <\/span><\/p>\n

Going back to the character Nico, we learn more about his background in the song \u201cMorph\u201d, where his full name is revealed. Billboard.com<\/em> states that the character\u2019s name refers to \u201cthe collective pseudonym for the scientists who invented the notation for zero or \u2018empty set\u2019\u2014the \u00d8 used in much of the band\u2019s branding over the years.\u201d We then get an insight into Nico\u2019s later life in the tune, \u201cNico and the Niners\u201d, which has a more reggae-like rap beat, starting off with acoustic strumming. The song also again refers to the jumpsuit from the first song, dealing again with themes of masking one\u2019s identity (another nod to <\/span>Blurryface). <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

One of my favorite tracks on the album is \u201cMy Blood.\u201d The sincerity of the lyrics match the slow tempo and the falsettos in the chorus. The music video also depicts two best friends always sticking up for each other, though the viewer then learns one of the friends is a figment of the other\u2019s imagination. Along the lines of \u201cMy Blood\u201d, you have another heartfelt love song, \u201cSmithereens.\u201d It is difficult to discern whether Nico (Nicolas) is again the main character of the song. Nonetheless, it is hard not to find charm in lyrics like, \u201cFor you, I’d go\/Step to a dude much bigger than me\/For you, I know\/I would get messed up, weigh 153.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Before we get to the end of album, I want to point out \u201cPet Cheetah.\u201d It is one of the few songs I couldn\u2019t quite get into, but I did like the creative and more discordant melody that began the track. However, I did not hearing \u201cPet Cheetah\u201d repeated throughout the end of song; the lyric strayed from the tone of the rest of the album. \u201cLegend\u201d follows with another odd beat (somewhat reminding me of old disco pop songs). <\/span><\/p>\n

The very last song, \u201cLeave the City\u201d, is simply beautiful. It deals with deeper themes like not belonging.  It has subtle undertones that refer to depression and suicide. Like an earlier song, \u201cCut My Life\u201d (in which Tyler sings, \u201cI\u2019ll keep on trying\/might as well), there is an attitude of staying alive without a true purpose. It is depression that leads to this suspended existence, in which one might himself in a limbo between death and life. \u201cLeave the City\u201d harps on this kind of existence once more, but suggests that it is worth trudging through life rather  than ending it all. The melancholy piano builds nicely, but still leaves us hanging in mid-air. The song is a perfect way to actually end the album. The character does not only leave the city, but also the listener. We literally “know that it’s over.” Despite the crestfallen descriptions in the lyrics, I still felt that the audience was left with a glimmer of hope, though many might dislike the message Tyler was suggesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, I highly recommend that you go out and buy <\/span>Trench. <\/span><\/i>I guarantee there is at least one song you won\u2019t be able to stop listening to. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty One Pilots\u2019 Trench, appropriately released during the month of Halloween, is an introspective masterpiece. One of the band\u2019s best concept albums, the songs deal with darker themes like identity crises and creepy cults, and showcase heavier sounds. They all fit to tell the non-linear narrative of Nicolas Bourbaki and reference old story-lines and narratives…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":8864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[600,1152,2283,2301],"class_list":["post-8785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","tag-dark","tag-jumpsuit","tag-trench","tag-twenty-one-pilots"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}