Album Artist: Pleasantries
Album Name: Nobody Will Notice When I'm Gone
Release Date: February 22, 2025
Genre: art rock, indie rock, indie pop
Where To Listen: Apple Music
I feel it is important to note that this album follows a certain story line and will eventually become a fully animated visual album, the videos for the first 5 songs have already been released, which gives me a bit more clarity on the meaning of them, but all analisys after that is all my interpretation and could be vastly incorrect to the actuall story line, I might consider writing a new review when the visual album is complete if that is the case.
Nobody Will Notice When I'm gone is the fourth major album by indie rock band Pleasantries. While their typically more of a comedy band, this album is a much more serious project, tackling Andy's existentialism and general feelings of distress towards life. The Album opens with the title track, Nobody Will Notice When I'm Gone, which is not only about Andy's fear of being forgotten, but also a statement on societies lack of observance towards its environment, and how he feels like him and everyone else is just a regurgitation of the expectations society holds upon us and lack individual identity. Don't step out of line, never speak your mind... The next song, Welcome To Heaven, takes place immediately after the previous, implying Andy dies at the end. The song further expands on Andy's fears towards life (and death), where life in Heaven is just a regurgitation of the capitalistic society we have in America, which disregards the well being of its employees in exchange for higher profits. God is money, the cycle never ends... The third song, Don't Worry Claire, is about a dying girl named Claire, who shares a hospital room with Andy after he is revived. Despite its upbeat sound, the song is about the unfairness of life and how horribly it treats people like Claire, who has been in this hospital for so long that she's forgotten how her own parents look, she's told that she's seen and loved, holding on to any hope she has until she dies soon after, only to be forgotten as soon as she's buried. We love you Claire... The fourth song is Two Parties, it is probably the most immediately attention capturing song on the album, which is very fitting, being that it is about the rapidly changing political landscape, and how politicians and social media platforms utilize it to keep people engaged for as long as possible, and how these sources quickly polarize and radicalize us to the point that the general belief system is "if you're not with us, than you're against us!" It also reiterates some of the themes from the first song, like the inability for someone to form their own opinions or attempt to analyze the corruption in either of the two political parties with out being socially outcast-ed. And God forbid you vote third party... The fifth track, Where Do I Begin?, is a much slower track than the previous four, it's a bit like an intermission, but not exactly. It seems to be about depression and Andy not being able to find the motivation to go outside, and instead rotting away in bed and slowly losing his mind, wanting to break the cycle but saying he doesn't know how to start because acting helpless is easier than actually acting to improve his problems. Angus Marchangus needs to touch grass... Apocalypse (Part 1) serves as a build up to the end of the world and an intro to the following song. It's about how even if we have a chance to save the world, we'll probably miss out on it, so we should just try to enjoy our life while it lasts. Because nothing matters in the end anyways... In Apocalypse (Part 2) it seems like Andy realizes that as much as he tries to pretend he doesn't care about the world, he knows that he does, and that the things he tells himself in part 1 is a lie, he still has hope in humanity and the only one holding him back is himself, and he finally acts to improve his life while he still can. Or he can just keep lying to himself... Sociopath is about how Andy tells himself that humanity isn't worth saving in order to cope with the end of the world and avoid feeling any emotions he would feel otherwise. And if that makes you sad, then "congrats", you're not a sociopath either. You can't stop your emotions and you can't stop the end of the world. So why should we even care... Never Noticed To Begin With continues Andy's cycle of self destruction, when he quits doing his job, and just like he mentions in the beginning of the album, nobody notices he stopped, and how no matter what he does to try to change things, for better or for worse, nobody ever notices anything, and with every failed attempt, his brain is altered and likely deteriorated. And thus the cycle continues... Stomach Sea is the point in which Andy can no longer bottle up his emotions and finally breaks down, knowing he feels bad for pretending to be someone he's not, but feeling just as bad when he shows the person he really is, causing him to seemingly feel some level of disdain for every version of himself until he just bottles up his emotions again. And again, and again... Song 11, Somebody, this is by far my favorite song on the album, but I'll get more into that later. This song is about how Andy feels like nobody, like he's completely failed to become someone that people really care about, and how he won't be happy until he's finally someone that people recognize, and how he is so desperate for it that he lets it get in the way of him evolving his sound because he wants to make more songs like the one that went viral before, and now he feels like he's stuck making the same few songs over and over again because he doesn't want to defy the expectations of his existing audience and disappoint them. If only he knew just how much his fans really cared about him, but I do... Self-Sabotaging is about how every time Andy does have any success or achieve anything that makes him feel good about himself he quickly ruins it by comparing himself to someone else who's doing better than he is, and thus he sabotages himself. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Song Stuck In My Head (In My Grave) is another song about death, but in a metaphorical sense, in this case, the aforementioned death is a reality in which Andy quits making music and abandons his dreams and gets a "real" job instead so he can keep paying the bills, but no matter how long ago it was that he quit, he still has the music inside him, but instead of recording it or performing it, he just tries to bury it deeper within himself until it is finally suppressed and the only sounds that occupy his mind are those of the office he works in. Why follow your passion when you could have money... Wake Up takes place in this office where a co-worker trying to make small talk asks Andy's doing, and he just has to lie and say he's fine even though he's miserable because he knows his coworker doesn't really care about how he feels, and revealing his emotions would likely do more harm than good, but when he finally is honest, his emotions are completely disregarded without second thought and nothing changes. Why do you feel bad, so many people have it worse than you, you're just being selfish... I believe that the song He Lied So Easily is told in the perspective of Andy's mother, and how his father left his family, and how she sees a lot of his father in him, causing her to frequently take her anger out on Andy, because she has nowhere else to center those emotions but him. But you wouldn't lie like him, right... I believe that My kind Of Life is the moment that Andy finally tries to improve his life and have something to show for it while he still can. He's got a long way to go, but I think he'll make it... The final song is called Long Way To Go, the conclusion is a bit open ended with Andy getting wasted and seemingly failing to make much real progress on his life, and showing just how much room he has to improve. after a bit of silence, another song that (if I remember correctly) is called Dead, it's a studio rehearsal that is to some extent a reprise of the first song, but with a different conclusion than the original, "nobody will notice when your gone, except the ones that matter." He does this for us, and through that statement, it seems that Andy finally begins to improve.
This really is an amazing album, I get emotional every time I listen to it and it genuinely might be my all time favorite album, and it desperately needs more recognition. Not only are the lyrics great, but it has some of the best instrumentals in the bands entire discography, it absolutely blows everything else they've made out of the water and I can't wait to see the film when it's complete. But the best song by far is Somebody, not only does it have one of their best and most memorable instrumentals, but Andy's lyrical performance is on phenomenal, and the meaning behind the song really resonates me, as someone who is desperate to be somebody. Songs like Two Parties, Apocalypse (part 2), and Sociopath are the types to really get stuck in your head, and are always fun to sing along too. Stomach Sea is also such a memorable and emotional track, and the production on it is perfect for the context of the song. The album is absolutely amazing, it's hard for me to really portray just how good the album really is, you've just gotta hear it for your self, this is one of the greatest albums I've ever heard.