High School (album) explained

High School
Type:studio
Artist:Tim Heidecker
Cover:Tim Heidecker - High School.jpg
Alt:A black-and-white photo of Heidecker playing guitar
Language:English
Label:Spacebomb Records
Producer:
Prev Title:Fear of Death
Prev Year:2020
Next Title:Live in Boulder
Next Year:2023

High School is a 2022 studio album by American comedian and pop rock singer-songwriter Tim Heidecker, released on Spacebomb Records. The album is themed around Heidecker's experiences of adolescence and young adulthood and has received positive reviews from critics.

Reception

Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Mark Deming writing that "High School is full of bittersweet tales of awkwardness, uncertainty, and poor decisions" and that Heidecker's writing has "parts [that] are quite funny, but most of High School is more than a bit rueful, less a celebration of the glories of youth than scattered memories of parking lot fights neither party wanted to happen, indulging in low-level decadence while wondering about that war on the other side of the world, and the nagging question of whether things are ever going to get better". Andy Crump of No Depression stated that this album "feels like a natural progression of Heidecker's development as an artist, an album shaped around a contrast between vulnerability and buoyancy", reflecting his growing seriousness as a songwriter. In Paste, Brianna Zigler scored this release a 6.5 out of 10, considering it a step down from the more experimental and textured Fear of Death released in 2020, consequently being "less perceptive and less honest". Editors at Pitchfork scored this release 7.5 out of 10 and critic Sam Sodomsky summed up that it "glows with the hard-earned belief that someone, somewhere could hear his story and reach the same epiphany about their own future".

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Heidecker.

  1. "Buddy" – 4:19
  2. "Chillin' in Alaska" – 4:29
  3. "Future Is Uncertain" – 3:59
  4. "Get Back Down to Me" – 4:21
  5. "I've Been Losing" – 2:55
  6. "Punch in the Gut" – 3:22
  7. "Stupid Kid" – 5:29
  8. "Sirens of Titan" – 3:28
  9. "What Did We Do with Our Time" – 4:29
  10. "Kern River" – 3:05

Personnel

See also

External links