“Do you feel it like I feel it? / ’Cause I need to know I’m not alone,” shrieks Ought frontman Tim Beeler during the climax of “Habit.” It’s this sole lyric that became the group’s guiding principle when creating their debut LP, More Than Any Other Day. Inspired by witnessing firsthand the 2012 Quebec student-led riots against tuition hikes, Ought wanted to make a record that captured the sentiments fueling this protest rather than overtly stating discontent. “And it’s not so much that our music was directly changed,” said Beeler during a Paste Magazine interview recounting his experiences. “But we as people changed.”
“Habit” is the centerpiece of Ought’s emotionally charged monument to fellow activists globally. Following the blueprint laid by avant-garde acts like The Velvet Underground and, more recently, Slint, the austere tension-and-release styles of “Habit” match perfectly with Beeler’s strained lyricism (the violin outro even sounds like was ripped from the VU’s “Venus in Furs”). The overall aesthetic inherent within “Habit” should instantly remind any Madison native of the thousands who championed a similar movement years ago.