Formed in late 2007, British indie band Everything Everything are fast becoming another great alternative sound for 2013 even though their music has been out for quite some time. With their debut album ‘Man Alive’ released in 2010 they started to cause a stir in the music world hitting the BBC’s sound of 2010 poll in December 2009.
The band originate from Kent, Tynedale and Guernsey but call Manchester their hometown, lead singer and guitarist Jonathan Higgs and bassist Jeremy Pritchard both have degrees in Popular music from Salford University. Along with drummer Michael Spearman and lead guitarist Alex Robertshaw the band decided to rid themselves of their individual last names, they now professional share ‘Everything’ as their surname, how very old school and bandly.
After the first album the band seemed to go quiet and slip off the music scene, but this didn’t mean they weren’t working hard. Here they are, back with the tricky second album ‘Arc’ and already a successful first single taken from it. “Cough Cough” portrayed perfectly what the band were trying to accomplish, they have taken everything that made them great from the first album and amped it up times one hundred. The single even pooped up at number 30 in NME’s 50 best tracks of 2012, not a bad way to start off the ‘Arc’ campaign.
The lyrics to “Cough Cough” are repetitive and there to make impact, exactly what the title and band name seems to suggest, “But I’m coming alive! I’m happening now!” Team that with Higgs’ high octave, pleasantly squeaky voice means it was the right move to make this not only the first single from the album but stick it at number one of the track list. The rest of ‘Arc’ holds everything you would expect from Everything Everything, high energy and often some really hilarious lyrics.
Skip to track three and you’re greeted with a sound that starts similar to Toto’s “Africa” and lyrics beginning “Girl you’ve been hitting that treadmill like a freak/ Baby you’re not the torso of the week.” The band in a nutshell, not here to make any profound lyrical impact, they are one of the few groups of the moment who are having fun with their music. This album is going to be treated as the band’s debut for people who haven’t heard of them before, and it’s a good sound lovers of this music genre get to hear.
‘Arc’ gives the listener every emotion needed for a great album: there is some angst, dramatic drum smashes and ear splitting electric guitar along with abrupt track endings. The album is a massive success for the group, definitely one of the greatest albums of 2013 already, you’ll listen once and have it on loop for the next week.
Their album is out now.