while it's predictable that the kids that grew up in the 00s, the oughties, have a more nuanced perspective about it and are re-evaluating it, i align with the gen x consensus that the 00s fucking sucked in terms of popular music. you had to look to some pretty obscure corners of the music world to find something exciting going on.

this record is one of the few counter-examples and one of the few albums i keep coming back to for that reason. it's one of the rare classic records released so far this century.

it's certainly a hysterical over-reaction to the situation in the united states in 2006, which is why it's fun. we are closer to this point now than we were then, but it's still a great distance away.

a society where these concerns are not hysterical but are very real is the middle east and levant and i would, today, mostly recommend this record to syrian or iraqi refugees fleeing isis, hts and al qaeda (including the current syrian regime), hezbollah or hamas. it is mostly arab refugees of islamic fundamentalism that would be best able to relate to this record as something very real, in 2025.

this wasn't the most popular punk record released c. 2005, but it was one of the best.

https://thethermals.bandcamp.com/album/the-body-the-blood-the-machine