Revisit of the Week: Bright Eyes - Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005) (2006)
My first thought when the RNG chose this as my weekly revisit was to skip it. After all, I only just reviewed this for my music site. And then I checked the timelines and realised I reviewed this in 2023. Christ, time, what the hell?
I still co-sign my more analytical, long-form ramblings which you can read through link the above, so there isn't really much to say in that respect without risking repeating myself. Because Bright Eyes were a US indie project, the whole concept of "b-sides" was never particularly ingrained into Conor Oberst's head and musical behaviour in the same way it was for many of his UK-based peers, who knew that there was an expectation for each album to be surrounded by another album's worth of extra material. The "rarities" in the title is therefore an apt description: we've got some single b-sides yes, but primarily these are non-album singles, regional or format bonus tracks, various compilation or split release appearances and all kinds of other ephemera that only the most hardcore of crate diggers and fanatics would ever have been aware of without this collection.
But also, because Bright Eyes were an US indie project, there was a certain kind of hipster pride in making sure these songs only a few would ever hear were genuinely worth the time, to make sure the hunt was worth it for any treasure seekers. The songs here range from scrappy lo-fi ruminations to more elaborate, explosive centrepieces but they all carry a lot of heart, all stick around for one reason or another. Noise Floor doesn't aim to be comprehensive (indeed, there's nothing actually from 2005 here, even though Bright Eyes released a number of singles with traditional b-sides that year) but instead its goal is to be rewarding, presenting a kind of alternate Bright Eyes album that could stand head and shoulders with the rest of the records, but one that's a little scruffy and unkempt compared to its more polished siblings. Due to its very nature it rewards patience and repeat listening, and my own appreciation of it has grown immensely over the years the more immensely fixated I became of Bright Eyes.
During this week, I was particularly struck by the compilation's two bookends (outside the intro-esque "Mirrors and Fevers"). "I Will Be Grateful for This Day" is a wonderfully swirling emotional rush of brightly shimmering guitars, resonant synths and cluttered drum machines; a preview of Digital Ash in a Digital Urn long before that album had a chance to conjure itself into this world, and a truly beautiful and resonant deep cut. "Motion Sickness" on the other hand is a gorgeous acoustic mood piece, a calm dusk of a ballad that gently whisks the album into the good night with unresolved emotions. Both are the kinds of songs that someone could easily have become obsessed about when stumbling onto them (on limited issue 7" singles, in both cases) - and placed here, it allows everyone else to fall in love with them as well.
B-side compilations are a dying breed, and albums like this are exactly the reason why that's immensely sad.
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