Vinyl of the Week - 6 September 2020

Blurry Face, Twenty One Pilots

Since VOTW falls on Father’s Day this week, I thought it would be a good idea for my daughter to help me choose an album. She loves music and it has been something we have been able to enjoy together, even as she’s gotten older. So this week’s pick is Blurry Face by Twenty One Pilots because it’s one we both love. Twenty One Pilots is duo Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph from Columbus, Ohio. Josh plays drums and trumpet, Tyler does pretty much everything else including vocals and lyrics. TOP were originally a three-piece band that Tyler started with some school friends. They eventually went on to other things and Tyler formed the duo with Josh in 2011. The reason I love this band is the fact that they are so diverse musically with such a unique sound, influenced by alt rock, hip hop, reggae, indie pop, rap, electronica and funk. Blurry Face is their fourth album and is considered their breakthrough. Three singles really took off; ‘Stressed Out’, ‘Fairly Local’ and ‘Tear In My Heart’ (which featured Tyler’s soon-to-be wife in the film clip). The album also broke several records such as the first in the digital era to have every track achieve gold status. They accompanied this release with a world tour where we first saw them live. My daughter and I have now seen them twice and we have been blown away each time. So it’s great to pay homage to a band and an album that has had such an impact on both of us and brings back memories of some really great times together. Happy Father’s Day - DS