Everything Everything: Man Alive Review

It’s about eighteen months since I first heard of Everything Everything. MY KZ, UR BF (My Keys Your Boyfriend) became a stable on my radio show. Being named though as one of BBC1’s Sound of 2010 is definitely a good thing although with company like Marina and The Diamonds, Two Door Cinema Club and Ellie Goulding, you have your work cut out for you.

Man Alive is the debut album from Everything Everything. The UK band are hard to pin down, they definitely don’t abide by the norm. Post indie with a good dash of electronic eighties, they seem to aim to be deliberately arty with lyrics that you could spend hours trying to decipher their meaning.

The album opens with MY KZ, UR BF, re-released just before the album, the track got a well deserved second chance at life. Catchy hooks and breakneck speed vocals dominate with a subtle driving bass line. love it. You’re not going to get any  ‘Baby I love you’ songs here, Everything Everything are far too clever for that. ‘Qwerty Finger’ shows this completely. It’s almost like the band have put these two songs first to completely disorient you from what you would traditionally call music. Instead they chose to overtake your auditory senses with such a sonic explosion that you will be putty in their hands.

The band include all their previous singles on ‘Man Alive’. ‘Photoshop Handsome’ is in your face and you can’t help smile at the ‘Airbrush’  refrain. Art college clever. A single from earlier this year ‘Schoolin’ is also here, not as high tempo as its predecessors but it still has the bands trademark lyrical content. Debut single ‘Suffragette Suffragette’ shows how much the band have changed it their time together. This has a more traditional indie guitar/drum feel and the lyrics are instantly more accessible.

The nerdy side of the band comes out in ‘Two for Nero’, it’s harpsichord based track which lyrically looks at a computer game love affair. Very clever. Because this track is stripped back we can fully appreciate the harmonies and vocals that sometimes can get caught up and hidden in the band’s lavish productions. ‘NASA Is On Your Side’ also works this way for the band’s benefit.

This is a clever interesting debut from a band who clever don’t want to conform and want to set their own agenda. It does take a couple of listens but altogether this collection is a definite grower. Actually its quite brilliant.

Check it out.

http://www.everything-everything.co.uk/