The Best Laid Plans: Everything Everything's "Get to Heaven"

I don’t drink or binge shop or other things that people characteristically do when on a boat for a week, but the part of me that likes to stand on the beach and stare out at the ocean really, really likes cruise life.  Last week, I was lucky enough to go on a 7 day trek at sea with my extended family, and I was really looking forward to getting my Father's Day music on the phone, circumambulating the decks, and pondering existence.

Not all music works well in all settings, however, particularly when the entire family is involved. I have to be somewhat sensitive if I am to continue assaulting them with my compulsive listening habits. Out of kindness to them, I did not lean too hard on the new Kayo Dot release, but a cursory spin of Everything Everything’s Get to Heaven definitely caught my attention.  The album's production is immediately punchy, and lead man Jonathan Higgs has a falsetto that just won't quit.  I suspected that the band's quirky, colorful take on British pop would get the whole family moving in their seats.

I was sooo right.



Everything Everything is, in essence, a pop band, and as such they hang their accessibility on great, memorable hooks.  There are, however, theatrical excursions and hidden complexities incorporated in their songs that move away from these central ideas and returns to them in very musically satisfying ways.  The album’s adventurous musicality never detracts, however, and despite being incredibly diverse, the songs still remain coherent and just plain fun to listen to.   I looked forward to absorbing the entire album poolside.

Which I was able to do.....to an extent. Within 48 hours, I was, indeed, poolside with Get to Heaven on the player, but I was also in charge of watching P as she played in the kids area.  As a result, my attention was mostly divided as I watched her splash around and make new friends on the boat. It was not quite the focused listen that I had envisioned, but the album’s dancehall overtones layered well with the overall vibe.  Especially this relentlessly infectious gem:



Everything Everything is able to bear the weight of decades of british pop on their shoulders with relative grace.  They inhabit a spectrum that juxtaposes the introspective pop-prog of early Radiohead with the slightly goofy textures of The Gorillaz, perhaps like what would happen if Damon Albarn took a turn singing for Level 42.  I was just considering the implications of this proposed polarity on the dissonance between the album’s sunny musical exterior and the sometimes melancholy nature of its lyrics when catastrophe struck.

We engaged in an almost comical struggle to keep our cabin organized, and in the midst of clean, gently worn, and dirty clothes, I lost my earphones.  Bummer.

Music was suddenly confined to our cabin, which kind of put a damper on my plans to walk the decks and pontificate as I had on my previous cruise experience. Kayo Dot would have to wait.  By this time, however, Get to Heaven had evolved into a family favorite, and I would play some of the more energetic tracks to generate daily spontaneous dance parties in the cabin.



P currently describes Distant Past as her "favorite song," although she, along with my wife, really enjoy Get to Heaven in its entirety.  Admittedly. a few songs seem to be framed as "singles," but the album's most disarming feature is its consistency.  There really isn't a bad track in the bunch, although there might be a few perceived "lulls" after particularly spectacular moments.  Taken on their own, however, these songs are still fantastically creative while retaining their accessibility, which is always a recipe for success in my book.

March Roundup: Standing on the Poop Deck

Our Spring Break Disney Cruise was the first time I had ever traveled in public with the Little One, and I found out quite quickly that inconveniences like customs checks and lines for boarding passes are pure torture to a toddler. After spending the entire day driving down and navigating these obstacles, we were both about to fall apart as we stepped out on deck to be counted present for the escape plan orientation. The crew was very diligent about passenger participation, and we were given the impression that this was the only time we really needed to be serious. Every man, woman and child was ordered to find their places on the deck and listen carefully to the instructions.

None of us really wanted to be there. To make matters worse, I noticed that the Little One's diaper had become a little squishy.  I hoped that she could hold on for fifteen more minutes. The prognosis seemed good - despite the somewhat grueling morning, she was in a pretty good mood. In fact, she was being quite charming and garnered a bit of attention from the people around us. This situation changed dramatically, however, after she reached into her diaper to figure out what was bothering her and, finding it, proceeded to smear it across my chest to get it off of her hands.

This was a new one. We had been under strict instructions to stand and pay attention, though, so there we were, standing on the poop deck, with little more than a couple of wet wipes to clean up a mess that warranted a full bath for both of us. There was no getting out of the drill, which made the rest of it pretty intolerable.  We powered through it, though, stink and all. As soon as we were released, we both had a good scrub down and adjusted to the fantasy offered by the Disney cruise.

On my listening, I’ve been in a bit of stasis this last month because I have a really great run of albums going in the changer (this happens sometimes). The playlist is a bit short because not too much has shifted out.

Puffy AmiYumi - Nice: It would stand to reason that Andy Sturmer's talent at reinterpreting classic power pop sounds would be a valuable commodity in j-pop circles. As musical director on Nice, he supports Puffy Ami Yumi's characteristic cutismo with strong compositions and incredible drumming.

The Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan: The eccentric and distinctive approach to pop songwriting that pervades Swing Lo Magellan is gloriously free of any autotuning or significant computer manipulation. It is, quite clearly, the refreshing voice of hardworking, gifted musicians with a clearly left-of-center musical vision.

The Format - Interventions and Lullabies: I feel as if I just can't get enough of this album. It could come to be a power pop classic in my collection.

My Bloody Valentine - mbv: My first impression of this album was somewhat apathetic. After I received my hardcopy in the mail, however, and heard the intended running order of the album, it was like a whole new experience.

Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing: A lot of current progressive music endeavors to recapture the past with simple mimicry. On this most recent release, Wilson reinterprets prog's past through the very relevant voices of 21st century prog illuminati.

Flying Colors: This recent one-off album by a supergroup of the same name presents itself as a bit of the same-old-same-old if you are a fan of Neal Morse's other collaborations. Still, the songs present rarely addressed topics that are appealing to grownups and shroud them in compelling musical settings.

Änglagård - Viljans Öga: I gave this top twenty album from last year a spin again this month. Looking forward to more from the group in the near future.