THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
AGHORI MHORI MEI
Review by JD Estrada & Joe Compton
OVERALL THOUGHTS
JD Estrada: Although I’ve listened to every single album by the Smashing Pumpkins and on more than one occasion tried to shine a light on some highlight tracks in some of the more recent albums, this is the first time I’ve not only listened to a Pumpkins album but have listened to it on repeat and have told several people to give it a spin.
Rather than a full on throwback to Gish era Pumpkins, this is a current modern version of the Pumpkins but without the excess that has been present in 21st century Pumpkins music. Some albums have been truly excessive and most if not all have been hard to listen to in one go, which is a shame. Zeitgeist, Machina/The Machines of God, Oceania, Monuments to an Elegy, Shiny and OH SO BRIGHT, CYR, and ATUM all have some solid tracks….and some that to me and many others it misses the mark. Often, it’s because Billy Corgan and Co lean too much into synth pop or pop overall and stray from what originally made this a great band.
Aghori Mhori Mei dispels all of that and is the tightest and best record they’ve released since Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ava Adore, but because of things happening and stylistic choices it is much more synth heavy than prior albums. For this new album, it’s a strong emphasis on direct guitar driven and drum thumping rock and at least for me, it’s a welcome return to consistency if not a return to form. Again, if you listen to all those albums, you’ll find tracks that jump out when you focus on them. But this album reminds me a little bit of Superchrist a lone single you can only find online and Untitled, the only bonus track in the Rotten Apples Greatest Hits collection they released in 2001. Are there synths? Yes. Multi-track vocals including backing female vocals? Yes. But they’re not the highlight. The BAND is the highlight. The music is the highlight and I for one find it smashing indeed.
Joe Compton: Unlike my colleague here I have not been a fan of the Pumpkins since Siamese Dream, with the occasional rare single tracks like Bullet With Butterfly Wings (my favorite all-time TSP track) and 7 Shades of Black. I do however agree with their tendencies to lean a little too fluffy commercialized synth pop or straight-up pop and that has been essential in what has had me ignore them more than turn them off. Now there are a couple tracks here on this album that remind me of this time. However like with the albums early on, a strategy to mix those in truly became effective for them here. Similar to how they worked on efforts like Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, songs like 1979 and Today, and not the hindrance they became on messes like Machina/The Machines of the Gods or Oceania.
What Aghori Mhori Mei offers is the result of when they push themselves into a corner and have to play their way out. This album has that kind of hard rock bordering on Metal but with rounded edges that make them who they need to be and who they are. This is a callback to why Corgan started playing music in the first place, those AC/DC and Thin Lizzy spinners, that he often pontificates about in interviews. You feel his influence probably more than ever here but what we get from James Iha on guitar and Jimmy Chamberlain on drums are equally compelling and as we go track by track there is one apparent thing and that's The Smashing Pumpkins indeed want you to know they still can live up to the name.
TRACK 1: EDIN
JD: The lead track in this album oozes 90’s groove and vintage Pumpkins dynamics. BIG drums. BIG guitars and quiet interludes where you can focus on Corgan’s floaty vocals and Jimmy Chamberlain’s nuanced drumming. When the guitars come in, they start small before swelling into a soaring glorious wall of sound.
JOE: This is a great start for me here. I love the opening riff almost foreshadowing for us to put on our seatbelts. This song has already invaded my mix playlist from my playing it so much in the first few listens. It is my favorite, and I love that its the 1st track. Big guitars and big drums definitely bring the crashing rhythm that allow Corgan to riff vocally. I feel like with those vocals too we are getting the maturity and focus from Corgan that I think has this incredible spiritual quality to it. A quality that hasn't been there for a bit. There is this, "I am in my 50's now" vibe and this "looking forward and cursing all those who look at this time as lost or the end because I don't" middle finger too. Real heady stuff here. I think it is so resonating with this recently turned 50-year-old who is on his second life and loving it. So I think that helps me here. Obviously, having the lyrics call to me, coupled with the cool harmonic, riffing pace that I think Corgan's singing has when he is at his best, is a great way to start this journey.
TRACK 2: PENTAGRAMS
JOE: Okay this track is where you see the magic of the Pumpkins and where you either feel like a fan or you go, ugh they're back. Sonically I love the way this flows, it is so Smashing Pumpkins like but phonically and lyrically it is a bit of a miss for me at first. I am not a big fan of repetition but when it slows into the bridge here, there is magic that only Corgan can pull off with that repetitional style and it works, it just fucking works, and sometimes you say fuck it and just enjoy it.
JD: Starts with a bit of synth/harpsichord into that makes you wonder if the guitars will take a break in this track. When second 35 comes in, you are hit with a rush of drums and guitar before the track settles into a dark goth rock. Unlike other albums, here there are synths but they complement the guitars and rock and the guitars are lusciously dark and glam.
TRACK 3: SIGHOMMI
JD: If you told me this was a 90’s lost b side, I wouldn’t judge you. Above I mentioned Untitled from the Rotten Apples greatest hits and this song is a big reason for that comparison. Soaring guitars and although I may say that a lot, I make an emphasis because this entire album has some of the best guitar work I’ve heard from the band in years and the drums are tight, thumping, and the band dynamics remind me why I love rock so much.
JOE: THE SINGLE on the album. I have to say, again, this song, is what makes the Smashing Pumpkins so unique for me. Usually once a song doesn't stick for me, its hard to get me back, but for some odd reason when I play this album, this is the song that sits strongest with me to have to at least get to before I go somewhere else. It's not my favorite by any stretch, but it's such a solid piece of music and the best chorus on the album. It is such a Pumpkins' style chorus too and I love the unconventional arrangements that have made the Smashing Pumpkins, well their namesake, but some words in here just hit me real, like "a dash in bittersweet" and "swear mornings changed". I love how Iha keeps up with these rants in a great riff design here too.This is as close to Classic Pumpkins as it gets. So its the obvious radioplay choice in my mind; obviously in theirs too.
TRACK 4: PENTECOST
JOE: This was one of the tracks in my overall assessment I was referring to and this is very previous Modern Day Pumpkins for sure but because it is sandwiched where it is on the album play, it works. I do suspect this is the next single and thus it will bring in those casuals or those newer TSP fans that want this type of song from this trio. Honestly, I skip it more than I hear it, but its got a layer of the "new" direction that seems to harmonize this entire album. So it is not as bad as it might have been on other efforts that don't have the spine this one does.
JD: Here is a glimpse of latter-day Pumpkins that has polarized fans. That said, in small doses, I enjoy these tracks especially when some bright guitars color the painting. There are strings, synths, piano interludes, and multiple vocals, but when you have a single track like this, it adds variety, rather than CYR, which although a double album in length really lacks variety. As the fourth track, the symphonic touches are nice and although not one of my top tracks, by no means is it a throwaway for me. Especially because musically speaking, I think it’s a jab to set you up for…
TRACK 5: WAR DREAMS OF ITSELF
JD: The opening of this track sounds like a stampede. There’s a certain bounce in this album that I get from many tracks, playful but beautifully raucous and with some of the most enjoyable lyrics I’ve heard in a while. “Heavens to Betsy/ There is a place for a street named "Disgrace"/six-six-cicada.” Again, the guitars and drums here are relentless and:
AM
HERE
FOR
IT
JOE: No denying this song shreds. The opening riff into what is a great scratch guitar, Tool-like sensibility is nice. I just wish the lyrical content matched this intensity. I get the contrast in an esoteric way but it works only in spurts for me here, like the 2nd verse. The pseudo chorus has some great lines but its a little disjointed honestly.
TRACK 6: WHO GOES THERE
JOE: This is so much better lyrically here and I love how TSP this sounds with it being still interesting and unique for this band. It's very Americana-ish even though its not even about America, it has this weird Tom Petty meets Goth feel, and I like that it's different from every other song here. I love how much they experiment, always have even when I don't like the songs per say, and along those lines a lot of songs don't always work, but the ones that do, sit with you and this is one of those that really has great power in great responsibility. Its orchestrated nicely, its polished, and just super solid.
JD: Curiously I love this track at the same time that I’m annoyed that part of the guitars go into major chords instead of minor chords. It’s the difference between making it bright or dark and it’s a curious choice because I’d like to hear the progression go into minor chords to compare. But the main guitar riff is super nostalgic and the lyrics make me even wonder about what it’d be like to visit Katmandu. Synth flares are welcome because again, they embellish and color rather than drive or dominate.
JD: Goth guitars for the win. This makes me think of what Ava Adore would have sounded with a full band rather than what it became. Mid-tempo, swelling guitar goodness again and I’m all for it. It’s like a dirge, but with balls. If you’re sure about that last statement…wait until the 4-minute mark, then buckle up.
JOE: If War Dreams had this lyric strength, the scratch guitar essence would have made that song the best one on the album for me. This is the "a little too slow portion" for me part of the album play, but alone, this song is powerful. It is truly most powerful though in its lyrics and Corgan's delivery. It sounds like one of those subjects that is an incredibly deep and meaningful experience for Billy. You really hear that here and I think that's something you got early in their discography and has been missing in the later efforts. So I am glad it's here.
JOE: Where would TSP be without a little acoustic accouterment? This has cool backing chords and the drums here are especially powerful. Chamberlain is really good on this album but there are moments he is special and this song has that for me. I love the lyrics and the whimsical reprieve that always seems to find its way into a TSP album no matter what era and I like that this is revisited here.
JD: A little brightness to balance things out and so often the guitars on this album make me smile, namely the main riff in this song. I smile because more than a shredfest, it’s a bright poppy track that feels like a springtime daydream. It’s a throwback yet feels fresh and that’s pretty cool.
TRACK 9: SICARUS
JD: So often in the last several years, it’s felt as if the music on Pumpkins albums keeps Jimmy Chamberlain a bit leashed. Enter Sicarus. Pay attention to what Jimmy is doing and realize he’s 60 and has pleeeeenty of fuel left in the tank. Another amazing rocker.
You can stream the album now on every major service.
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