(8) Big Modern! - 09/19/2025 vs. (9) Thatch - 05/10/2025

Neither of these are my favorite. I probably won't listen to either of these again. I'm voting BM.

There have been plenty of thatches that have left my face melted. I don't remember this being one of them. After relistening, big modern was fun.

Pretty much agree with Chris Newcomb down below.

Im usually a melodic jam guy and this BM does a great job of it, but it sounded like a typical goose jam


This Thatch is unique and teetered that line of chaos while keeping me interested. Im not usually a dissonant jam guy but love how this goes from dissonant to shredding peak so beautifully.

Uniqueness>typical goose jam

The Thatch is the most intense and ferocious playing of the year. Absolutely unhinged! Up against a very good Big Modern that I think is the 2nd best BM of the year behind 2/15/25 and gets a bit too much credit from Big Pod. Thatch is my vote

I like this BIg Mondo but again, it’s not the best representation of this song and that Thatch is fantastic! Huge Mexico vibes and is so fun.
Seeding is ridiculous. I appreciate the work they do…. But for the love of Goose, come up with something better guys please

Melodic is my preference. That Thatch was incredible, but the BM is much more my speed.

Two totally different sounds between BM slow burn and Thatch cacophony. Too slow of burn for me and not much of a real jam from all four whereas Thatch has everybody going. Gimme Thatch

Of all the dissonant jams they have played over the last year and a half or so, I find this Thatch to be the most intentional and coherent of the bunch and the result is intense and captivating. Get much more from it than this BM, which, although fun and exciting and well-played, does not really get anywhere too special or unique IMO.

It's wild to see 2 different goose camps here, people who prefer the noodley dissonant stuff vs the more melodic thought out stuff. I think this Big Modern! Is one of my favorites of the year

Thatch is unlistenable. In my humble opinion.

The seeding of this bracket is fucking bananas. Gotta fix it somehow next year. BM!

Justice for Gonzo Your Direction.

I’m voting for anything Gonzo to protest its absence, but also because Gonzo was the greatest time ever.
This thatch was wonderful too… very strong Stash vibes

GOAT BMO ALERT!!!

I feel like every time I listened to this jam it moved a little higher up my list until it ultimately ended up at my #6 overall pick. Probably started out closer to an 8-seed than a 2-seed for me, but keeps aging like a fine wine. It really is that freaking good! Damned near a perfect jam. It's not going to be the JOTY but it is leagues beyond this Thatch. Which is wild and energetic and fun, and comes with the added boost from being one of the only truly impressive jams from the Cabo run. But this really shouldn't even be close. BMo for the M'Fing win!!!

BM all the way. It isn't the GOAT BM to me. (I think my fav BM is Grand Rapids tbh.) But I still had it as a 6-seed (no. 24 overall), so I think it's under-seeded here. It's such a fun jam. Explosive and rewarding first half, dreamy second half. Not a dull note the entire time.

This Thatch didn't make my top 64. I respect why others liked it. But I've never found myself drawn to the jams that sound like '94 Phish unless the '94-Phish section is, like, prelude to something else (as it is in jams like MKE Hungersite and GR Madhuvan). If the entire jam is dissonant experimentation, I don't find myself wanting to relisten. I respect the effort and the willingness to experiment, though.

I don’t get the hype of this BM, the peaceful flow through the last 5 minutes are really atmospheric and unique but the majority of the jam is just a pretty plain BM. Ultimately, I feel it doesn’t do enough to overthrow this chaotic and unhinged Thatch.

Big Mo easily on this one - nice Thatch, but not in the same ballpark

This should easily be BM

BM! by a fair margin. Its wild how close this is at 1pmpacific.



Maybe you should listen once more before voting?

:kiss:

Thatch is straight ⛽️ Silly goofiness exploration into straight shredding. Come on people do the right thing!

Had this Thatch way higher with the total chaos of the first half of the jam to the completely electrified ending to Gonzo. It deserved a higher seed and is better than this BM

This is a super tough one! I would be happier with either, but I like the spaced-out section of Thatch.

BIG MODERN OR BUST!

Love how this modern gets red hot and cools off at just the right moment. Any more or less and it would've been felt off, they nailed it. The thatch is noodly for the first 75% and then just typical for the last leg. One of my least favorite jams in the tournament. Gimme Modern all the way!

It's hard to overstate how poorly these are seeded. Modern by a mile.

This Thatch is the real JOTY despite what this "poll" says

this Modern! mightve been my favorite jam to rediscover. Absolute heater

Genuinely don’t understand the love for this thatch. Just because it gets dissonant and weird doesn’t make it a good jam

As much as I want to vote for this “hometown” Big Modern from Detroit, the Cabo Thatch just rips too hard not to vote it… and hope for the upset. It’s not like either survives the next round, but good grief… this Mexican Thatch is spicy!

BM is under ranked IMO and gets my vote. I had it ranked 20th, this Thatch was 33 on my list.

FACE!

I can immediately find 30 other versions of Thatch I'd prefer to listen to over this one. Big Modern! an easy deserving pick here.

This Big Modern! is so good. A personal top 5 jam of 2026. The one from Grand Rapids in February was great, but this one goes way deeper

Hard pick for me. I think Thatch has more quality improv in total than BM. That final section though is incredibly good though and some of my favorite improv of the year. The peak in thatch is also INSANE.

This Thatch = most underrated jam of 2025

But, I do love this Modern as well

This GOAT Modern! is so good that I could see it taking out the MKE Madhuvan. Not even the best Thatch from May.

I respect the Thatch but this BM absolutely rules and IMO should be much higher than an 8 seed. BM it is.

A criminally under seeded BM vs one of the most unhinged jams of the year. Thatch is solid but this vote wasn’t hard. Goat BM takes it.

GOAT BMo! vs. an overranked Thatch.

Come on in, for a real good time.

Like this Big Modern almost as much as the Grand Rapids one. Thatch gets to trainwreck territory iirc- havent revisited it since hearing it the first time bc theres so much better goose out there.

JUMP SHOT CAVEAT GOAT BIG MODERN!

I love this Thatch and think both of these are crazy underseeded but the drippy psychedelia of the last chunk of Big Modern! really does it for me.

FACE

Generally I'm more of a Modern fan than Thatch, and I love how this Modern develops and soars but I feel like the jamming in Thatch was dynamic, twisted and unique enough to keep Gonzo alive for another round.