Formed in 1991 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina—the heart of the fertile US indie rock scene that also gave birth to Superchunk (and their influential label Merge)—Archers of Loaf have long been one of the most inventive and important bands of the genre. Or they were, thanks to the four albums they released before breaking up in 1998. Like many underappreciated alternative bands from that era, they (thankfully) reformed some 13 years later in 2011, but it’s taken another 11 years for Reason to Decline, the band’s fifth full-length, to arrive.
Its 10 songs sound both like classic Archers of Loaf and a modern interpretation thereof, inspired by and infused with both the musical fervor of their past and the thematic terror of the world that these musically and lyrically vital songs reflect. They were never an overtly political band, and on a cursory listen to these songs you could possibly make the mistake of thinking that’s still the case.
As frontman Eric Bachmann—who, in addition to Archers records, has also released albums with his band Crooked Fingers and as a solo artist—explains in this track-by-track breakdown of the new record, however, that’s not the case. Indeed, Reason in Decline is not just a stunning set of new songs, but also a significant one that pays the utmost respect to the band’s legacy while also marching forward into this volatile present and an uncertain, unstable future.
With the record out today via Merge, stream it and read Bachmann’s breakdown below.
1. “Human”
We started the record off with this one because it has this meandering chord progression that takes a while to get to the end. Something about the structure and the inherent quality of the melody makes it sound urgent and lost, which matched my psychology during the pandemic.
2. “Saturation and Light”
Certainly the most destructive vice, if you like, that a person can have. More than pride—which is supposedly the number one of the cardinal sins—is self-pity. Self-pity is the worst possible emotion anyone can have. And the most destructive. It is—to slightly paraphrase what Wilde said about hatred, and I think actually hatred’s a subset of self-pity and not the other way around—“I destroys everything around it, except itself.”
“Self-pity will destroy relationships, it’ll destroy anything that’s good, it will fulfill all the prophecies it makes and leave only itself. And it’s so simple to imagine that one is hard done by, and that things are unfair, and that one is underappreciated, and that if only one had had a chance at this, only one had had a chance at that, things would have gone better, you would be happier if only this, that one is unlucky. All those things. And some of them may well even be true. But, to pity oneself as a result of them is to do oneself an enormous disservice.” — Stephen Fry
3. “Screaming Undercover”
This was the first song that was written for the album. After I’d finished the lyrics, I understood the perspective from which to write the rest of them. It offered a direction to steer the whole thing.
4. “Mama Was a War Profiteer”
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LMT
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GD
HII
PSN
HEI
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PPA
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ITA
Good luck!
5. “Aimee”
This was inspired by an old answering machine cassette recording I found from over 30 years ago. We wanted the music to sound like it was piping through from a different time.
6. “In the Surface Noise”
There’s a church sign here in Athens, Georgia that posts some intelligent calls to action—different than the ridiculousness spewing out of most churches I know. My favorite in a while was this gem around the time of the George Floyd murder:
7. “Breaking Even”
We wanted to write a song about obsolete communication equipment (Citizens Band Radio) because I think a lot of us talk too much without saying anything. Antiquated tools sometimes slow us down to a more reasonable, efficient pace. Also, you really can’t trust anyone with secrets these days.
8. “Misinformation Age”
Channeling Jello.
9. “The Moment You End”
This is a song about Christmas. There are so many songs about Christmas, but so few of them are realistic.
10. “War Is Wide Open”
The chord progression of this song is the same as the chord progression on “Human.” We changed the vibe and the melody to be a completely different song. Archers often bookend our records like this to create cohesion. “Audiowhore” and “All Hail the Black Market” do this on the Vs. The Greatest of All Time EP; “Fashion Bleeds” and “White Trash Heroes” do this as well on White Trash Heroes.
