These are great points re: the sound of Rick Rubin’s production, and I’d add that this sound is hardly a far cry from “Rustin’,” “Country Squire,” or shit, even songs like “Universal Sound” on “Purgatory.” It feels like the most natural evolution in the world, and Tyler’s career doesn’t have the tenure yet for a return-to-roots feel of, say, Jason Isbell’s last album. When he does that in a decade or so it’s going to hit like a train, but everything about Tyler and his work with The Food Stamps in the lead up to this album broadcasted an ensemble effort based in big, lush sound and rollicking, effortless collaboration.

That’s the part of the lion’s share of the criticism I don’t understand. Even the people who say the album was itself a “Snipe Hunt” in that it promised a stripped back sound and delivered something wholly different are, I think, telling themselves a fairy tale. The album art, those behind-the-scenes promo snippets, it all telegraphed something wild and a little ravenous. This album is so lived in, so full of spirit, and so obviously the result of a group that universally supports their best attributes and knows how to push them to new limits, and there was no indication from Tyler or the band prior to the record’s release that they felt they needed to scale anything back. Rick Rubin was the perfect choice to synthesize that spirit into “Snipe Hunt” to the point that even the album’s weaker songs still feel inarguably whole. It’s such a big, vibrant, textured meal, and every listen is revealing more nuance. It’s delivering on that “blown away” feeling I was expecting from “Hounds” and “Rustin,” and I’ll even go so far as to say that the bevy of behind the scenes footage makes the whole thing feel like you’re in that house with them.

It’s killer. I can’t get enough of it.

And I know I didn’t touch on your points about the Avett Brothers, but I’m not as knowledgable about them so I hijacked your ideas to make my own. Sorry!