I still think it's the best sounding record they have, production wise, but the songs aren't that strong.

Thought it was mediocre at first, liking it more and more.

Hot Water has always been a band I couldn't quite get into. I'd like songs here and there but nothing ever stuck until this record. I think Pledge Wore Thin is what sold it for me. That song is damn near perfect

This one is a real grower.

Its pretty good... I just cant get past the "i second that emotion" line. Wasn't that a smokey robertson song? ("if you want devotion, I second that emotion)

Anyone know where I can download this (il)legally? My iTunes doesn't work and for some reason KaZZa isn't booting up.

the Wollard songs on this one get worse with every listen

1. Sorry About Tomorrow
2. If It's Cool With You, It's Cool With Me
3. Reality's Coming Through
4. The Underground Is A Dying Breed
5. If I Knew Now What I Knew Then

i get in the shower in the early morning and usually a song randomly pops into my head. I got this combination one day this week where I was interchanging and confusing the chorus of "Drag My Body" with "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac.

Doesn't matter - they rocked it in LA at the satellite.

I'll jump in and also say not their best. but definitely their best since Caution. The Traps probably the song so far I can't get out of my head. Stoked for the show in Milwaukee in September.

Not their best but that's a big ask. I'm happy they came back with something a little different and glad they're still on top form after the hiatus.

Boring@Yawning.com

...good for you Myron, you are more punk than many?

I kinda agree with Jay. "State of Grace" completely left me unimpressed with how boring that chorus is, but it eventually really grew on me. Same goes for a lot of the songs.

It's pretty good

Eh, not a bad album, but the choruses to a lot of the songs bug me.

Badass verses and then the choruses feel needlessly repetitive (and not in the catchy way, in the lazy way) or like they lack any real content. Feels like a generic "hook" on a bunch of the songs.

When I think about classic HWM songs, that's the part I want to scream along to...that's where the heart of the song is, so when that part is the weak link, the song feels off to me.

Anyway...

Slightly disappointing at first, but after a few plays it became apparent that's it's a pretty great album.
Not their best, but great.

this is not a good album. the new what next was a good album. this is mostly (save for 2-3 songs) bland crap, which is hard to say because this is probably my favorite band of all time. at i got a shirt in the preorder cd pack i got with this album

No. The only staffer who has any taste at all is Adam.

EchosMyron is going to shit bricks when the years end lists come out.

This, so much this!

"If that fuck is going to make a pointless list of great HWM songs, he could at least include The Bitter End."

"More folk guitars and short shorts for you..."

haha um... what the hell are you talking about?

I can only assume that you're trying to pin me down as some jort wearing folk punk kid but I have absolutely no idea how you came to that conclusion... oh yeah. go get face fucked by this album or whatever, idiot.

If that fuck is going to make a pointless list of great HWM songs, he could at least include The Bitter End.

While you are thinking up quips and labels like this...

"Mid tempo orgcore pop rock rocks that hard? Jesus fuck, that's pathetic."

....the rest of us are rocking out and having fun with this shit. More folk guitars and short shorts for you...

"This record fucks you in the face."

Mid tempo orgcore pop rock rocks that hard? Jesus fuck, that's pathetic.

This shit is weak.

This record fucks you in the face. As far as an HWM record goes, that is debatable. It's not like the old stuff but it's way more exciting than the more recent stuff. Remember that it is not 1997 and people are different now. I'm the same age and it's fun to grow up and move on. More pop and less punk and oi oi oi and stuff.

Here's my review of the new Pennywise: 2 Stars. Music and singing great, betrayed by laughably bad lyrics.

Thumbs got it right.

1- everything except "Finding The Rhythms"
2- Finding The Rhythms

Where are reviews for the new Anti-Flag and Pennywise records? 'org is lagging...

Why does Echoblabla even post here?
There's not a band that encapsulates the general tastes of this site like HWM and it has been that way for 10 years now. If you're not happy with that - just leave. There are plenty of places where you can talk about the kind of music you like.

And following my own advice; I don't post here much since I've never really liked HWM, but you have to be a miserable sod to tell people to listen to what you like instead (especially since your list is ridiculously laughable).

Ugh, can't resist now.

1. Caution
2. The New What Next (Fight me)
3. No Division
4. Fuel For the Hate Game
5. (tie) pretty much everything else
6. Finding the Rhythms

Yep, this is a Hot Water Music album alright.

Not their best work, but it'll probably be a grower for me. Also, it's still better than Caution. Yeah I said it.

Not my favorite, but it's still really good. It strikes me as a mature albume by a mature band -- with the good and bad that entails.

Well,,,,, Caution is my favorite. everything else is great and i shouldn't rank them

FFTHG at number 7? Wow, your record collection must be a riot.

Here is my top list of HWM albums
1 Caution
2 New What Next
3 Forever and Counting
4 No Division
5 Flight & Crash
6 Never Ender
7 Hate Game
8 Exister
9 Till the wheels fall off
10 finding the rhythms
this is not set in stone. I just hope these guys keep making music... HWM is one of my favorite bands that I will never get sick of. No matter how I feel or what mood im in i can always listen to HWM. thank you much love

Yeah, we get it.

To all of the hyperbolic idiots calling Exister a "top 10" album of the year, here are ten punk or punk-related albums from the first five months of 2012 which are better than it.

Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Screaming Females - Ugly
Mean Jeans - On Mars
Dan Vapid and the Cheats - S/T
Mind Spiders - S/T
High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Unsane - Wreck
Torche - Harmonicraft
Ceremony - Zoo
The Sonic Avenues - Television Youth

I haven`t heard the Classics of Love album, but it`s probably better too.

The problem with this record is the Wollard songs. Now, i'll qualify this by saying that he wrote the majority of my past favorite HWM songs, but this record is a different story. His efforts here make me think that Chuck called and said "hey, i've got an EP's worth of amazing songs" and Chris said "Fuck it, i'll throw 6 or 7 together tonight and we'll make a full length". His stuff sounds like songs that the Ship Thieves didn't want to jam on at practice or something. i'd LOVE to score this a 5 because i've been waiting for it for so long, but half of it sucks....the wollard half.....To be fair though, the Chuck stuff is incredible, his voice is really peaking after the past few years as a solo dude

Very good album. For me nothing of theres beats Caution. Definitely on my top 10 list. State of Grace is a killer song though.

this website would give HWM a 4/5 if they literally pooped in a jewel case and sold it. this album is bland as fuck and i love the entire catalogue up to this point including the new what next, which i thought was creative and well written. there are maybe 3 good songs on this album. of course its better than a lot of whats out there, a generic HWM song beats a lot but ive come to expect more from these guys. i couldnt give this more than a 2.5/5. its really a 2 but an extra half point just cause they are one of the greatest bands ever. they need to go back to being more influenced by leatherface and fugazi rather than the foo fighters and springsteen, the results were way more interesting

Apparently the Myron says this is generic...generic to what? He then goes on to list a bunch of songs, some of which are as generic as you can get: "No Division" for one is probably the most simple, over done chord progression in punk ever. I love the song but let's be real.

Not into this record though. I am convinced that echos has really no idea what he's talking about, even though he thinks he does.

Obviously not, as you gave this generic album an 8. But you give out 8s and 9s every week, so it`s not like you`re attempting to come across as a reviewer that has high standards.

Yeah, we get it.

Songs that HWM have written which annihilate anything from this album:

Scraping
Floor
Counting Numbers
Bound
Incisions
Translocation
Better Sense
Rest Assured
Manual
Man the Change
220 Years
Turnstile
Blackjaw
Trademark
Freightliner
The Sleeping Fan
Facing and Backing
North and About
Difference Engine
Drunken Third
Moments Pass
Moonpies for Misfits
Southeast First
Free Radio Gainesville
Our Own Way
No Division
Jet Set Ready
Rooftops
Driving Home
Alachua
Tradition
You Can Take the Boy Out of Bradenton
Elektra
Us and Chuck
Sound for Language
Jack of All Trades
Paper Thin
Swinger
Sunday Suit
In the Gray
One Step to Slip
The Sense
Wayfarer
All Heads Down
Keep It Together
Bottomless Seas
This Early Grave

I`ve listened to this album four times already, and with each successive listen am shocked by just how far this band has fallen.

Meh. Cant expect much from a band who's last great album was a flight and a crash. This album was way too overhyped. I am going to agree with the one dude and just listen to No Division then Fuel for the Hate Game

Although the album fell a tad bit short of my expectations I still think it's a solid top 10 album of the year for me. Chuck really carries this one some of his best songs for HWM in well over 8 years. Paid in Fulls chorus the last time through, when Chuck's voice starts to shake, moves tectonic plates. It's awesome.

fucking love this album. come to OH!!!

Thumbs up!

Been waiting for this ever since the "reunion" show in Orlando 4 years ago. The final track, "Paid in Full" makes my throat shred just
listening to it. So glad HWM as a recording entity is back.

Still waiting for my copy to arrive *sigh*. I got into HWM way late, but I would say that:

Forever and Counting > Fuel For the Hate Game, Caution > The New What's Next, rest

Eh. I'm just going to listen to No Division

4 good songs, 4 bad songs and 5 meh songs. Okay.

Best Punknews joke account as of late: EchosMyron.

Good, certainly not 5 star good, but good-oldpunker-

I personally think this album is on the same level as Caution, A Flight and a Crash and No Division, and that's after only listening to it non-stop for a few days. If you don't like this album, and you think Forever and Counting is their best effort, you should probably go eat a butthole.

Echos -- It is understandable that you do not like the album. Everyone has different tastes; that is what makes us all individuals. Simply berating the majority of users on this site makes all of your opinions that much more less convincing. By the way, regardless of my opinion (which I haven't given), the avclub review is the only negative review I have read thus far.

The fact that so many people here are giving this generic piece of slog such high grades just goes to show how conservative and unimaginative the taste of the average org user has become.

And here is a REAL review of this album: http://www.avclub.com/articles/hot-water-music-exister,73854/

Been on repeat since Friday. 5 stars.

love it

I think there are two types of HWM fans, those who grew up with them and got into them before the Epitaph era will always prefer the pre-Epitaph stuff, and those (like myself) who got into them during the Epitaph era tend to prefer the Epitaph and post Epitaph stuff. I don't dislike the older stuff, but I listen to it far less mostly because I just prefer better production. This album sounds great coming out of my car speakers, as does everything from F&AC onward. I don't like listening to albums that sound like they were recorded in a tin can. I'd probably like all the older stuff better if they re-recorded it and it sounded the way Caution sounds. Plus I grew on on the mid-late 90s EpiFat skatepunk era stuff so I'll always prefer that sort of cleaner sounding production.

I don't equate poor production/"raw" sounding with having more honesty, I just hear it as poorer production and have to adjust the volume on my speakers. I think the best sounding album I've heard in the past couple in terms of production and how "big" it sounds is Calvalcade by the Flatliners, that album sounds great. Seems like the older folks just prefer the older more "raw" sounding stuff and a lot of the younger folks for the most part prefer the newer cleaner-sounding stuff. I don't know.

That was a whole lot of babble. I like this album, not as much as Caution but maybe on par or slightly less than Flight, and a little better than TNWN. It gets better with repeated listens. Paid In Full might be my new favorite HWM song, Chuck's voice is ridiculously awesome in that song.

Caution = FFTHG > AFAAC > No Division > Forever And Counting > The New What Next > Finding The Rhythms

Will hold me over til the Live in Chicago 3 LP comes out in the fall.

Got the black vinyl and jacket and belt buckle combo. I'm a walking advertisement for exister and couldn't be more happier.

Excellent, simply excellent. I got my pre-order in the mail Saturday and have been spinning it constantly since.

The title song "Exister" is a very good example of a more energetic Wollard. Anyway, the feeling I get from this album is that the NEXT one will be the one to kick everyone's ass. I love Exister, it is a very good reunion record, but its like a football ("soccer") team, the more time they get to spend together, the better will be the next efforts. The same way you need 2 records to make a Fuel for the Hate Game.

Really good album. Never thought there would be another HWM record and even more I was worried if it would be good so I am stoked on this. High quality from a band that makes few mistakes.

There's really never gonna be another song like 220 Years. I don't think humanity could produce that much energy again.

Pretty kickin album. When I first heard Drag my Body I thought it could or should have been a Chuck solo effort but after a couple listens and hearing Black's bass lines it is a great HWM song. Paid in Full I think has the intensity of Fuel for the Hate Game era, good mix of songs 4 stars here.

Good. Not amazing. But that's ok, since everyone who contributed to this album has kept me astonishingly entertained over the last eight years anyway.

also, i feel like chris' songs are exceptionally poor this time around.

hot watered down music. it's just OK. most of the songs are really, really similar.

not mindblowing, but definitely good. 4 Stars.

Awesome record !!!

Awesome, never thought there'd be another HWM record and this doesn't disappoint. Good times.

I can dig it. Near the bottom of the heap in terms of HWM records, but still better than most everything else out there

I really shouldn't have had impossibly high expectations.

Hello HWM, it's been awhile.

I've heard of these guys.

I'm stoked on it. Might be my best of 2012.

Honestly, did we expect anything less? We all knew it would be this good.

It's great, definitely does not disappoint!

score is for the jacket. record's not too shabby either.