The UK’s Everything Everything gives the U.S. a preview of their upcoming album with new EP Cough Cough. The six songs are tightly constructed and packed with tension and energy. The band has an original sound marked by heavy drums in the forefront, dynamic changes and falsetto vocals blurting out long lines of lyrics. All of this is smoothed out with clever keyboard arrangements and electric guitar.
Singer Jonathan Higgs has an awesome range and a lot to say. His vocals are gorgeous on “Kemosabe”, which has a hook that calls to mind Gotye in the middle of an otherwise edgy track. Occasionally, his falsetto feels like it could use a rest – he can sound almost Muppet-y on “Torso of the Week” – but for the most part, the vocals are the perfect combination of melodic and tense.
“Cough Cough” and “Kemosabe” are the best tracks, but “MY KZ, UR BF” is another catchy one, with the curious line, “I wanna know what happened to your boyfriend, cause he was looking at me like ‘woah'”. What? What happened?? The remix of “Cough Cough”, by Cats Hero (please click on that because the photo is hilarious), is a lot of fun as well. It adds just enough of a beat to an already infectious song, making it impossible to resist dancing to.
The EP is available now on Julian Casablancas’s label Cult Records/Kemosabe Records, and the band plays The Roxy on March 19th.
Image via BB Gun Press
