In the days before “pop” was a dirty word, the music was funky, unpolished and not at all dumbed-down. The songs were so exciting, they could make you dance with wild abandon, and sing along euphorically, never caring who was in earshot. Everybody Else (named for a Kinks B-side) have created a record of just these tunes. With twelve back-to-back gems, Everybody Else’s self-titled debut is an album so refreshingly un-jaded it will leave you wondering why anyone would ever think pop was a dirty word in the first place. It offers a feel-good vibe that will stay with you long after the record has left your stereo—that is, if you take it out of your stereo at all…
Rising out of the smog-fed palm trees and dingy, skateboarded sidewalks of Los Angeles, Everybody Else’s Carrick Moore Gerety (vocals/guitar) and Mikey McCormack (drums) both grew up in separate parts of the East Coast, where they spent their formative years playing instruments in their older brother’s bands. While studying at Harvard, Carrick played with Push Kings, a favorite in the Boston scene and beyond. At the same time, Mikey was playing with Waking Hours, local heroes in his hometown of Richmond, VA. Both the Push Kings and Waking Hours moved to LA. to pursue music and in a perfect twist of fate played a show together—the rest, as they say, is history. Mikey and Carrick both quit their respective bands and immediately began playing together in Carrick’s garage. Finding the last piece of the puzzle, Austin Williams (bass), proved more difficult. Everybody Else saw a rotating cast of bass players, mostly friends, but the search was on for that last missing link. In one last chance encounter, they met Austin, who had just moved to Los Angeles from Fresno, CA. The day before they met him they had plastered the city with “Musician Wanted” flyers, but after Austin’s first audition, they heard how a three part harmony should really sound and closed the auditions. Everybody Else was finally ready to take their raucous, inspired music to the next level.
Everybody Else’s self-titled debut was recorded at Sandbox studio in Los Angeles, with producer Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Sugarcult), who has successfully captured the band’s obvious joie de vivre and electric spirit in this outstanding record. Opener “Meat Market” boasts guitar and bass lines so captivating, and a voice so exhilarating, that you will find yourself singing and dancing along to it anywhere you go: in the subway, at your office, in your bedroom, and even in the shower. “In Memoriam” is the catchiest ballad you will ever hear: the lyrics memorialize lost love, while the music segues from soft guitar and vocals to all out sparkling musical glee within seconds. Closing track “Alone in the World” will finish off your dance party with haunting guitar on top of a soul standard groove and inspired piano.
Everybody Else adheres to only one orthodoxy: that a good song will transcend its genre, its time, its popularity. The joy in their music is as infectious as it is sincere, give this album a spin and you’ll understand why.
