It was only a couple months ago that we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Neutral Milk Hotel‘s magnum opus, ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea‘. During the first twenty years of its existence, the album has had quite the rollercoaster ride. It initially divided critics but eventually reached a cult status in the indie world that very few albums have ever achieved. And yet, even with its place in indie royalty firmly cemented, the album continues to receive harsh criticism, and in many cases, absolute hatred.

While I’ve always accepted some of the criticisms to be valid, I still ultimately adore the album. Perhaps I’m lucky to have discovered the album when I was younger, a time where I found the lyrics surreal and enchanting, rather than juvenile and pretentious. A time where I didn’t mind the brash musicianship, instead I found it exhilarating. For me, it’s an album that hasn’t necessarily gotten better with age, yet it’s also somehow one of the most timeless collection of songs ever written. My brain becomes more skeptical of the album each passing year, yet as soon I hear the acoustic strums of the opening track, my heart welcomes it with open arms.

However, this post is not intended to be a response to the criticism of ‘Aeroplane’, nor is it even about a song that comes from that album. I’ve always it strange that despite the intense worship that the album receives, a significant number of those people have never listened to anything else in the Neutral Milk Hotel discography. To be fair, the band does not exactly possess a deep catalog. ‘On Avery Island’ is both their debut studio album, and their penultimate.

‘On Avery Island‘ doesn’t have the thematic cohesion that makes ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’ such a fascinating listen, however I believe it is unfairly overlooked, especially considering many of the songs are almost as good as anything on ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’. Anyone who enjoys the cryptic lyricism and thrashing lo-fi pop of ‘Aeroplane’ will find ‘On Avery Island’ a revelatory listen.

‘Naomi‘ has all the ingredients of a classic Neutral Milk Hotel song. Opening with one of my favourite chord progressions (Ab/A/E), Jeff Mangum delivers one of his beautifully restrained, but instantly memorable vocal melodies. It eventually descends into the fuzzy, lo-fi folk that many people associate with the band. Those who are more familiar with ‘Aeroplane’ might be startled by Mangum’s double-tracked vocal that sits rather timidly within the instrumentation. The muddy vocal mix compliments the strange, almost toneless vocal melody that repeats throughout the song, and it differs substantially from the emphasis placed on Mangum’s vocals on ‘Aeroplane’. Lyrically, the song is somewhat of a love letter to Naomi Yang (previously the bassist of Galaxy 500). With lyrics such as “Your prettiness is seeping through / Out from the dress I took from you” and “I’m tasting Naomi’s perfume“, this song could classify as demented and creepy. However, the surreal, child-like nature of his lyrics unearth a deeper innocence that almost masks the creepiness of his obsession. Overall, this is a classic Neutral Milk Hotel song which showcases one of Jeff’s greatest gifts: his ability to take a meandering, monotonous vocal melody and make it spectacularly heartfelt and memorable.

Favourite Lyric:

“One billion angels come and hold her down / They could hold her down until she cries”

– The White Album