we're headed to VA beach tomorrow to visit tim and stenia for the 4th. i don't mind sitting in the apartment all day with the blinds down watching movies and reading, maybe because i'm insane. but i don't work 60 hours a week like jess, so i'm glad we'll be able to get out for a weekend. neither one of us have been there, so i'm looking forward to it. i'm more of a fan of the bars around the beach rather than the beach, but i'm sure it'll be a good time.
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the new maps & atlases ep is pretty great. so far it reminds me of battles, as if they're listened to "mirrored" about 500 times. but they've gone less overtly fret-tapping based and have gone the direction of a kind of, dare i say, polyrhythmic math pop. the songs build, but there's also a lot of melody and surprises, and more prominent vocals contributing to the melodies also. i really like what they're doing, and just from one ep to the next they've evolved a ton. here's hoping for an imminent full length.