Everyone Everywhere

A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around 7 Inch

Written by: PP on 10/06/2009 18:33:03

When talking about the word emo today, most people are inclined to (falsely) think about bands like My Chemical Romance and Hawthorne Heights, which both spearheaded the genre's shift from indie-tinged emotional hardcore of late 90s to a more post-hardcore based sound around the start of this decade. Not surprisingly, the genre has since then gained a negative connotation and new bands who are classified as emo are shunned by everyone other than angstful teenagers. But every once in a while new gems pop up that are worthy of your attention even if they are called emo, and more often than not they belong to a revivalist genre called 'original emo', referencing bands like The Promise Ring, Braid and other seminal late 90s emo bands. Everyone Everywhere is one of these bands, and their new four-track 7 inch "A Lot of Weird People Standing Around" has really blown me away, and here's why.

Normally when you think of emo bands, you think of technical guitars, lots of faux pas screaming, and lyrics about broken hearts in more or less every song. Not here. Everyone Everywhere's songs are deeply emotional but they aren't at all about girls. Instead their lyrics are fun, down-to-earth, genuine, honest and a boatload of other similar words, about things like feeling cold in the winter or wondering what parties are like in Germany in comparison to the US on the best song on the record, "Cool Pool Keg Toss Pete": "Your flight's arrived / and you're back home from Munich / where you spent the whole last year / Let's throw a party / we've got all your friends and family /and even Luke is here / I'm glad you have a pool / 'cause we're going to need somewhere / to put the empty keg / and store all our chairs [...] Are things like this / in Germany? The parties / everything?" - These lyrics may sound simple on paper, but when combined with Brendan's nostalgia-filled, emotional voice, they reveal a genuine recount of the worry-free lifestyle of a college student as well as the deep relationships between friends and family at this stage in their life.

Instrumentally, Everyone Everywhere are about as purely emo as possible. They have those warm, glittery guitars that aren't overly technical but have those little intricacies that keep you finding more details in their songs on each new listen. The drumming mostly follows the guitar lines, but the production has left nice and ringing to allow a place for them in the sound as well. Occasionally you'll hear the punk-inspired rumbling bass living its own life on the background while the two guitars play off each other to provide a nicely layered sound. It may sound like your run of the mill emo band instrumentation but it really isn't, because when they combine with vocalist Brendan McHugh's calm singing voice with just the right amount of angst in it to make him sound great, the whole package suddenly becomes something special. Fact is, Everyone Everywhere are one of the best emo bands (new or old) I've heard in recent years, and hearing the news that they're currently writing songs for a full length makes my lips drool... and so should yours. Check this band out before they blow up. Score could be way higher if there were more than 4 songs on the record.

8

Download: Cool Pool Keg Toss Pete
For the fans of: The Promise Ring, Braid, Tiger's Jaw, old Saves The Day
Listen: Myspace

Release date 07.04.2009
Evil Weevil Records

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