Everything Everything is another new-to-me artist and, as best I can tell, they take their name seriously. The band has been around for just over a decade now, with their debut album dropping in 2010 — and they’ve been pretty prolific in that span, with Mountainhead’s release marking their seventh LP, averaging an album every two years or so.
And I may have to go back and check out some of that older discography, because Mountainhead is full of incredibly catchy tunes. The simplest accurate descriptor I can give them is ‘Indie Pop-Rock’. Their Indie Rock identity is clearly front-and-center, but their songs focus in on super poppy vocal hooks more than anything. They also utilize an eclectic number of techniques, with each song subtly bringing in something different, even if the vocal hook becomes a bit repetitive, as on “Cold Reactor”. Other critics have applied “Art Rock/Pop” labels, and I think this fits, perhaps loosely; I also hear some Proggy elements in the composition throughout the album.
But the album could also be the lovechild of serious Progressive Indie Rock and zany Hyperpop, because the songs all feel like they have this solid conceptual core being covered up with absolutely whimsical production and lyricism.
According to what the band has said, this is a concept album, but I’m not labeling it as such because the concept is as solid as a chair made of smoke. Weed smoke.
With all of that said, raw, unfiltered whimsy isn’t always enough to make music great. It needs a touch of polish, and tracks like “Buddy, Come Over” and “Don’t Ask Me to Beg” have the conceptual polish applied to make them seriously great tracks. Others, like the falsetto-filled “TV Dog” and half-baked “Canary” are just lacking. Making it worse, those two are also back-to-back right in the center of the album, creating a bit of a slump.
Thankfully, the album picks back up pretty strongly after that brief moment of bottoming out with “Don’t Ask Me to Beg”, which kicks off the album’s strongest segment. This section runs all the way to the end of the album and includes several of the best songs on Mountainhead, including “Dagger’s Edge”, which has strong pseudo-rap sections and the foreboding metaphorical sentiment of “We’ve all become tomorrow’s bacon”.
Mountainhead is a strong, upbeat, boppy ride which is mostly very enjoyable, but it does have a few noticeable weaknesses. Despite this, I enjoy it and its bizarre metaphors enough that I’m going to drop it into Teal for now.
Rating: Teal