by Patrick Pilch (@pratprilch)
I saw Stuck twice before all this B.S. The second time happened two weeks before the bullshit - about a month before Change is Bad. It was one of those shows where everyone was pretty quiet the whole time. “This is the last real basement show they’ll do,” someone murmured, “you know, before they blow up.” The hopeful sentiment soon became eerily prophetic. Change is Bad came at a terribly coincidental time.
If change is bad, Stuck makes the best of it. The record, front to back, is solid as fuck. It’s as dense as it is brief - the band wastes zero time plunging to exceptional depths in both arrangement and lyricism. Stuck’s debut contains the kind of post-punk precision and detail begging for repeated listens. Nothing’s overthought, but it’s all thought out.
Everything is deliberate with Change is Bad, yet it still feels natural. This is one of those records where you’re always anticipating the next track. There’s this unforced momentum. Side A plateaus with “Bug Song” before tumbling into “Plank II.” The blooming opener buds into the brooding “Invisible Wall,” both tracks mirroring the penultimate “Anniversary,” an anthemic and dark slow burn prefacing the wilt of a forgotten houseplant in “Bells.”
Stuck’s members - Greg Obis (vocals/guitars), David Algrim (bass), Tim Green (drums) and Donny Walsh (guitars) - work on a string. Their movements are like clockwork, calculated with aptitude and flair. Each motif is hardly presented the same way twice. “Era” splices through high-tempo segments with consistent variance, while the last thirty seconds of “Plank I” offers multiple compositional avenues for the same melodic destination. It’s incredibly exciting and part of what sets Stuck apart from other post-punk bands; a shared disposition for varied melodies.
Stuck’s first LP is angsty, clever and notably catchy. The Chicago quartet certainly know what they’re doing, and they’ve got the digs to back it up. When this B.S. is over, I highly recommend catching them live. Change is Bad is an excellent debut, one of the finest full-length introductions in quite some time.