There are tracks on Nothing Feels Natural that are serious as heck. “No Big Bang” is more prose performance than punk rock, and “Pink White House” is the sort of shoegaze, “We’re sad but also we’re angry we just don’t know which one to be right now” kind of punk. It’s cool. Not great, but alright.
Priests are at their best when they’re having fun, though. Opening track “Appropriate” ends in a dissatisfied and dissonant mess, but it starts of like a good quasi surf punk jam. “Jj” also highlights vocalist Katie Alice Greer’s lower register in a more playful (yet still energetic) romp. Also the chorus of “I thought I was a cowboy because I smoked grass!” is delightful as heck. We’re having fun but we’re still angry.
Or, more accurately, we’re still angry but we’re having fun.
Naturally, Nothing Feels Natural is as abrasive as it is danceable, and it’s so much better off for it.
