The Rest: Everyone All At Once

First off, let me get this out of the way: Ontario, Canada’s The Rest and their latest full-length, Everyone All At Once, are not the second coming to The Arcade Fire’s Funeral and frankly, it’s a bit of disservice to call it that based on what The Rest have accomplished with this album. While both bands share a certain desperation found in their music as well as a penchant for being Canadians in a multi-member (i.e., more than four people) group, the similarities kind of end there. You will not find any immediate choruses backed by frantic hooks that urge you to sing and dance in any situation of your choosing, no, but rather a wide array of subtle influences that require absolute attention upon listening.

Financed from making their own beer which in turn was sold at their own self-promoted shows, Everyone All At Once was written and recorded over a period of two-years in various locales of isolation which probably explains the atmosphere the album permeates. While it garnered a North American release last spring on Auteur Recordings, I’m glad I’m hearing this for the first time as we prepare to move into autumn’s twilight.

Like leaves on a tree during this time of the year, Everyone All At Once is a colorful palette of sounds that nod slightly to 60s folk as well as the grandiose pop of Ocean Rain-era Echo & the Bunneymen and the tranquil soundscapes of Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden. You also get hints from the multitude of singles produced by Sarah Records’ artists (i.e., The Harvest Ministers “You Do My World the World of Good”) and dreampop acts that followed while simultaneously treading a path used by more current contemporaries such as Grizzly Bear and Sigur Ros. The gorgeous harmonies flow and crash like waves against a rocky shore situated between sincere bouts of contemplation and sighs over lost loves and missed opportunities.

No doubt these ramblings come off as pretentious but that is usually what comes when describing a great album that sounds immediately familiar yet painfully difficult to articulate with just comparisons. Everyone All At Once will not be for the masses, but rather a small group of devoted fans looking for something that hinges a bit more on introspection. This is a special record that’ll probably reveal something new with each and every listen for years after you first hear it.

The Rest – “Walk On Water (Auspicious Beginnings)” (mp3)

(from the Auteur Recordings download, Everyone All At Once, 2009)

The band are gearing up for a trip to the UK where they've just been signed to Someting In Construction Records who have kindly provided us with a copy of the W.O.W. EP (which can be had HERE) in anticipation of Everyone All At Once's UK release on October 12th.

Make Me Another Boilermaker

Not much can be said by yours-truly in regards to the legacy that The Jesus Lizard left behind that hasn’t already been stated by others not only more eloquently but probably a whole lot better as well. That being said, I did want to add a few words in the form of nostalgia as yesterday finally saw the release of the band’s entire Touch & Go catalog from the early 90s with each album, Pure (1989), Head (1990), Goat (1991), Liar (1992) and Down (1994), getting the remaster treatment as well as an upscale makeover by way of linear notes, recollections, photos, etc.

I got to The Jesus Lizard just a bit too late as the twilight of their career was beginning with the release of their major label debut, Shot (1996); the first step in the band’s ill-fated relationship with Capitol Records. However, I’d previously heard that it was the time associated with Touch & Go Records of which the band were most notoriously known, both musically and as a live act. As part of a stockpile of cassette tapes bought during the summer of 1997 previously related here, both Goat and Down became big staples of my collection only because they, like the rest of the band’s Touch & Go material, continue to reveal new aspects of the music with each and every listen all these years later.

This was a terrific band who, despite incorporating the seeds planted decades earlier by the likes of The Sonics, Led Zeppelin and the Stooges into their style, developed a unique sound that can only be described as their own. They almost seem to have been one of those groups where not only did you know that you were hearing something really special but that you’d probably never hear another group like them ever again. The musicianship on these records is both top-notch and devastatingly original while David Yow still remains one of the pinnacles of all-time greatest front-men ever.

Picking a track is next to impossible, especially since these remastered versions sound so delicious to one’s ears but this one has always been a favorite. I kid you not: any rock fan should do themselves a favor and add these albums to their collection, especially Goat, Liar and Down. These are records that I’ll always adore.

The Jesus Lizard – “Monkey Trick” (mp3)

(from the Touch & Go LP, Goat, 2009 reissue)

Happy Hollows: Spells

This one showed up in my inbox last night and ever since I’ve been playing it to death and subsequently becoming a bit smitten with The Happy Hollows’ infectious brand of pop punk meets art-rock. The Los Angeles Times hit it on the head when they described the group’s sound as a “pugilistic mix of stinging guitars, turbulent rhythms, and shouted vocals.” The obvious names of The Breeders and P.J. Harvey are dropped in many of the reviews but I also hear lots of late 70s UK punk in the music a’la The Adverts or The Slits as well as the howls of anguish that made Marcy Mays of Scrawl so engaging. Overall, there’s just something really genuine about this band and what it is they’re striving to achieve.

Incidentally enough, The Happy Hollows debut full-length, Spells, hit both stores and online vendors today with the obligatory East Coast tour to take place this October; no doubt in the hopes of taking advantage of the CMJ New Music Marathon showcase. The song “High Wire” is the single but out of the three tracks sent to me, the album’s opener, “Faces” with its driving buzz-saw guitar riff gets the slight nod followed in close second by “Monster Room.” Stream the full album or select songs here.

The Happy Hollows – “Faces” (mp3)

(from the TuneCore CD, Spells, 2009)