The new self-titled album by Everyone Everywhere finds the band about 5 years older, similarly jaded and existential, noticeably more confident in their “sound,” but eagerly expanding on their expounding indie rock. The group sticks with their buoyant lead guitar noodles, cacophonous crescendos, and nonchalant tenor, but the subtle additions not as present in their last album are what bring this one to life. The nine-track album is, if you focus on the lyrics, a fairly heavy affair. It recalls a man trying to paint a landscape while sitting in a windowless basement.
The tattered opener “I Feel Exhausted” is pretty emotionally deflating, but the music, which starts quietly, and at a distance, approaches with fervor and blooms declaratively. The songs continue to accelerate until its abrupt ending. While a “single” isn’t what it used to be, “$1,000,000,000” was the lead single for Everyone Everywhere. It is a yearning narrative, kind of a love song, though a rather dystopian one.
This album, in our opinion, is rather back-loaded in terms of standout tracks. This includes the skittering, straight-forward rock tune "Turn & Go & Turn” that has an awesome, gnarly, manipulated guitar solo that squeals its way into your heart, and makes the song a highpoint in the album. A similar song-making moment occurs on the following track “Fervor and Indifference in the Bicameral Brain” (good luck introducing that song drunk). The song is built on an acoustic guitar line, but is by all accounts rocking, especially when the tremolo lead is included. That being said, the song includes a breakdown, which is hinted at earlier, but later flushed-out with a sauntering banjo and woozy horn arrangement, all accompanied by singer/guitarist Brendan McHughs anxious theorizing about the helplessness of ones existence. It’s all quite romantic really, but also pretty depressing. If one was lulled into a daze from the previous song, Everyone Everywhere do their best to wake the listener up with the pulsing, fuzzed-out bass and drums intro to “No Furniture.” The uncharacteristic chorus is built on an Explosions In The Sky-esque guitar opposed by McHugh’s weary voice and lyrics. Often camouflaged by upbeat music, McHugh’s words, once focused on, become even more tender given the contrast.
The album closes with the adventurous “Wild Life.” It is restless, tender and youthful. Lyrically, it yearns to relate on a broad spectrum. The self-titled LP is filled with unanswered questions, not with the intent of answering, as much as finding new things to question. The band may prefer to play on a stage, if they are given the chance, but this new record finds the group on the same level of their listeners, not singing at them, but with them. You can purchase the album HERE. – Adam G.
