AJR's "The Click" [Review]

It’s been a few years since I last touched an AJR album. Over 4 to be exact, but this one has been on my mind a lot recently. I started writing the review of “Neotheather” back in the summer of 2019 when I was still in college. I remember taking the early train to NYC and chilling in the hall because all of the doors were locked and my class didn’t start for a couple of hours. During those hours, I just started writing about that album. It wasn’t until months and months later that I finally put it out to the world.

It’s been 5 years since then and this review is important to me because it’s fully representative of what life was like for me in 2019. My partner at the time introduced me to AJR and because of that, I started listening to them a lot. It was my senior year of college and I had decided to pursue my masters. I was getting older and both “Neotheater” and “The Click” were albums that had quickly become a part of my life. I couldn’t tell you what I was listening to exactly in 2019 but it was a lot of indie pop and EDM, but these two albums really stuck with me.

Released on June 9^th, 2017, “The Click” charted at number 61 on the Billboard 200.

I don’t think I’ve really listened to AJR too much since 2020. I remember getting somewhat excited to hear that their fourth studio album “OK Orchestra” was going to be released in 2021, but outside of some of the singles leading up to it, I haven’t given them too much thought. My tastes have changed over the years and while I won’t be looking at this album through rose-colored glasses, I’ll talk about how much this album mattered to me back when I was listening to it for the first time.

AJR is a hometown band. Born and raised in NYC, the brothers three got their start performing on the streets. With the release of their song “I’m Ready”, they blew up and released their first album “Living Room”, recorded pretty much in their living room. While there are some standout songs here, you can tell it was the band’s first album. While “The Click” was still recorded in that same living room, so much has changed since.

A semi-tradition the band has done on a few of their albums was releasing an “Overture”. An overture is a piece of music typically played at the beginning of a musical composition that incorporates other music or themes from the rest of the composition. AJR has released three different overtures, one for their first, second, and fourth albums. It’s an incredible way to start off an album and I can’t stress how cool it is to hear a preview of nearly every track on the record all mixed into one. In the case of “The Click”, it’s a really fun upbeat mix that shows how far the band has come in such little time. The song does a really good job of not only previewing the songs to come, but summarizes the whole theme of the album. The song both starts and closes with a metronome ticking back and forth which is heard throughout the album in its entirety.

Starting off, “The Good Part” has a bit of weird history behind it. Back in 2021, over 4 years after the album was released, the song began to go viral all over Instagram and became the top song on the platform. As a result, the band decided to record a music video for it. “The Good Part” was one of the few songs that wasn’t recorded in the infamous living room and was recorded while the band was on tour. The track samples Bach’s “Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air” and revolves around the theme of “skipping to the good part”. Not wanting to have to deal with the struggles and mundane parts of life, the band wants to just experience the best of times and not have to deal with anything else. This is heavily contradicted by the band in their next album on the opening track “Next Up Forever” which is all about the build-up towards that good part. Probably the best part about this track when it comes to the instrumentation is that sample.

While it wasn’t the lead single, “Weak” was the second track released off of the album. Originally a part of the “What Everyone’s Thinking EP” it quickly became the band’s most popular song. The band has a great breakdown of how they made this track up on their YouTube channel in. I used to be obsessed over this kind of stuff and seeing how they took the sound of a hi-hat cymbal and reversed it was so neat. There are a lot of little things like this in AJR’s tracks that make them pretty special. The track features vocals from Jack Met’s girlfriend at the time singing the lines “One sip, one hit, one kiss”. The instruments on display here are the trumpets and horn which have a kind of dubstep feel to them. The vocalization is also very neat as it was inspired by a baby crying. In the context of being “Weak”, the track is mostly about peer pressure and how it’s so easy to give in to temptation. The band makes a point of that not always being a bad thing, but they’re also making some excuses for their vices.

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer is featured on “Sober Up”, the fourth single off the record which was released the same day the album did. While the band has always been a fan of Weezer, Cuomo actually reached out to them saying that he liked the song “Weak”. After a few back and forths, AJR sent a demo out to Cuomo for this track. Cuomo ended up recording several bridges and verses for the track until we ended up where we are now. Cuomo’s part on this song is definitely the best part, but the way the track closes is pretty great too. In an interview with Billboard, the band reveals that this track is about Jack’s crush on a girl he knew back in second grade, wanting to go back to a time when they were young and innocent and nothing else in the world mattered.

“Drama” was the third single to be released off the record and it’s all about celebrity gossip going on in the world as opposed to focusing on political issues. The band took inspiration from Kendrick Lamar in his hip-hop influence on the track. My favorite part of the track is probably the vocal sample the band uses along with the synths, but everything about this track is excellent.

“Turning Out” is one of the few songs that has ever gotten me to cry. I usually don’t have too visceral of a reaction to music, but this was a special case. The day was May 19^th, 2019. I was driving to my college campus for my graduation ceremony. I typically usually listen to albums when I drive as opposed to putting things on shuffle or using a playlist. So after loading up this album, I wasn’t prepared for how hard this track would hit me. Originally released on the “What Everyone’s Thinking EP”, the song heavily features piano alongside drums. The way the music swells during the chorus and hearing how much passion is put into the vocals at the end of the song is just incredible. The lines “I'm a little kid with so much doubt. Do you wanna be there to see how I turn out?” are repeated over and over again and I think they do a great job of summing up what this song is about, feeling as if you’re not ready to tackle the world just yet. Despite being a college graduate, I still felt like a kid. Only 22 years old, was I ready to take on the world? Or was I still turning out? I think no matter what age you are, this song can still have such an effect on you. The band has also gone on and released “Turning Out Pt. II” and “Turning Out Pt. III” as kind of sequels.

Doing a 180 on the previous track “No Grass Today” was released as a part of the “What Everyone’s Thinking EP”. It’s a track about marijuana legalization. While the band has smoked in the past, Ryan has gone on to say that it wasn’t really for him. Despite this, he realizes that a lot of people appreciate and enjoy smoking marijuana. “So who am I to take away what makes you feel this great” is the main takeaway of the track. While the instrumentation isn’t anything too special, AJR does some really fun stuff with their vocals. In a technique they’ve dubbed “spokestep”, the band takes their vocals, cuts them up, and makes it into a unique dubstep-like sound. While this technique is featured on quite a few of the band’s songs, this track features it quite prominently.

One of the more interesting things that you wouldn’t notice if you’re just listening to some of the songs on this record is the length of them. “No Grass Today” clocks in at 4 minutes and 20 seconds, while the next track “Three-Thirty” is exactly 3 minutes and 30 seconds long. The song gets its title from the fact that the ideal length for a song is 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The track switches up genres quite a bit and it’s a mashup all things considered. It’s a bit of a commentary on social media and the ever-changing industry.

Originally released as a single back in late 2015, “Call My Dad” is by the shortest track on the record. The song is just Ryan singing with a synth over his vocals and no other instruments. While in college, Ryan was feeling homesick and even after trying to cheer himself up by going to a party, he still finds himself wanting to go home.

“I’m Not Famous” was the first track released as a single for this album on March 24^th, 2016. The band wanted to take advantage of the fact that they’re not a household name and can be their weird and wacky selves. No one is aware of the things they do, or the things they say, the band wanted to write a song as a commentary toward what it’s like being famous, or lack thereof.

“Netflix Trip” is a pretty unique song. At the time, streaming services like Netflix weren’t as big as they are now. Not every channel had a dedicated streaming service, and the show “The Office” is still on Netflix as opposed to now being on Peacock. Ryan wrote this song by taking moments in his life and presenting them alongside where he was in his journey throughout the show “The Office”. It’s a piano-filled ballad filled with spokestep, drums, and horns. While the show was a cultural phenomenon, and still has its place in pop culture today, writing a song about streaming culture/show and how it’s been so intertwined in your life is something that's so different. I don’t think we’ll ever really get a song about such an event that unfolds over months if not years at a time quite like this again.

Another song that heavily features “spokestep” is “Bud Like You”. The horns, synths, and vocals are all over the place on this one. The song is really just about two people at a party having a great time hanging out by themselves and just making fun of everyone else there.

Closing out the album is “Come Hang Out”. Originally released on the “What Everyone’s Thinking EP”, “Come Hang Out” is one of the most popular songs on the record. This song is where the album gets its title. The band is struggling with trying to balance their lives from hanging out with friends, or trying to do their best and further their music careers. It might be my favorite song on the record, the percussion, additional vocals, and synths are just so good and the band is at their strongest on this one.

While that wraps up the album proper, a deluxe edition of the album was released on September 28^th, 2018, and includes four additional tracks.

“Burn the House Down” was the only track to be released as a single off the deluxe edition and it’s by far one of the band’s most popular songs. Originally recorded to be a theme song for the film “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken”, the song is partially a political commentary on what American politics was like in 2017. While the song didn’t end up making the film, it was eventually released as a single by the band. Becoming more and more of a political anthem, the track is meant to empower the listener and use their influence to help make the world a better place. The trumpets and percussion on this track are some of the best on the record and it’s one of my favorite songs from the band.

“Role Models” is an acoustic song revolving around what celebrities and “role models” are in the spotlight. While the band previously looked up to some other artists and musicians, they’re now “on TV for the wrong reasons”. The song is entirely composed of guitars, trumpets, and vocals, with a tiny bit of processing on the vocals, so there isn’t too much else to say about this one.

Following the trend of being acoustic, “Normal” is a track consisting of only pianos and vocals. It’s more of a sad ballad that has the band questioning their newfound fame. While the band blew up with songs like “Weak”, they began to get further and further away from their old friends either by missing parties or being unavailable due to other commitments. The boys are struggling to determine if this is the life they want to lead after trying their best to break out.

And the final track on the deluxe edition is once again an acoustic track, but this time with a bit of a twist. “Pretender” is a track recorded by Steve Aoki, AJR, and Lil Yachty and was originally released as a single for “Neon Future III” on May 18^th, 2018. Aoki reached out to AJR about any unreleased songs and after AJR had sent over “Pretender”, Aoki got Lil Yachty to do a verse on the song. It’s tough to judge this song based on that, but it consists of only guitars, horns, and vocals. It’s a great little piece about how people “pretend” and lie about their current lives to fit in with the popular crowd. It’s a toss-up which one I prefer more, and it might change with the day, but no matter which, you’re still left with a great song.

Final Thoughts

I went into this review with a different mindset than I usually do. I got myself thinking that I didn’t really like the band too much anymore and that I wouldn’t like this album as much as I did. While I think that’s somewhat true, I found myself enjoying this album a lot more than I expected. AJR’s sophomore album is meant for a certain kind of person. Those who are still trying to find their place in the world, not knowing what your future holds in store for you, and still holding onto your youth. For me personally, this album puts me back in the spring and summer of 2019. Not knowing what the hell I was doing, or where I was going in life. To this day I think I’m still turning out.

References:
AJR: How We Made 'THE CLICK' (Part 1)
AJR: How We Made THE CLICK (Part 2)
AskAnythingChat: AJR Talk About The Beach Boys & Spotify Discover. Full Chat Here
Billboard: Pop Shop Podcast: AJR Talk Surprise Hit ‘Sober Up,’ Why Rivers Cuomo Was a ‘Perfect Fit’ & Seeing New Fans on Tour
FaceCulture: AJR interview - Adam, Jack, and Ryan (part 1)
FaceCulture: AJR interview - Adam, Jack, and Ryan (part 2)
LIVE 101.5 Phoenix: AJR Brothers Talk New Album, The Office, And Addressing Marijuana
Popdust: INTERVIEW | AJR long for the past but push to the future with new album
Zach Sang Show: AJR | Full Interview
Zach Sang Show: AJR Talks The Click, Jon Bellion and Shawn Mendes
Zach Sang Show: AJR Talks Burn The House Down, Sober Up & Rivers Cuomo

Album Score: 8/10
Favorite Track: “Burn The House Down”