PropertyOfZack Review : : Every Atlas
Twenty years ago, if somebody told the record label heads of music that the industry would look like it does today, they would not believe it. We live in a world of music where having a good voice is not needed anymore, auto-tune can fix that. We live in a world of music where the younger generations surround themselves with bands that put no meaning behind their words that so many people could one day hear. But by no means is the world of music we live in hopeless.
Every Atlas, a two-manned band from California is led by two sixteen year old boys who know nothing except to love and to make music. The music you would expect Every Atlas to make due to their age might be extremely raw and talentless, but that’s not the case. Their debut album, The Ghosts Of Everyone, which was released via iTunes on November 3rd, is truly a masterpiece. The opening track, “In All It’s Glory,” immediately starts with a lively feeling filled with beautiful guitar parts and lyrics that make you stop and thing. Influenced by Right Away, Great Captain, Kevin Devine and more, Alex and Dustin of Every Atlas immediately show that the key to making excellent music is not relevant to age and experience. The album continues with one of my favorite songs. “Like Wind And Waves” begins with chilling vocals that last throughout the whole track. The song metaphors the relationship of a sailboat, a captain, and a sailor, which can do no other but make you think about the relationship the listener draws with his or her family. It’s a common theme throughout the record, a relationship between two people, at such a young age Every Atlas has no issue grasping the larger issues in a common person’s life and putting them into a deep, meaningful song.
I’ve been smoking seven packs a day/just to shake these fears away/just to keep my bones in place/I’ve been drinking fire from our bed/just to stop this all again/just to end this all instead. “All Hands On Deck!” is perhaps the most chilling track on the album, only behind the album’s closing track. Throughout “On Deck!” you can hear the emotion pouring out of the vocals, I replayed my leaving several times/to find solace in goodbye/I am long gone…
The last three songs on The Ghosts Of Everyone are perhaps the best. In “Figurehead,” Dustin shows of the strength of his writing ability by once again drawing a comparison to a captain, a sailor, and a family. The most peculiar part of the track is the addition of a sound bite in the closing seconds. There’s a minimum crew requirement. What’s the minimum crew? One I suppose. The meaning behind what was placed on the album itself is enough to stand on it’s own. Throughout the album there’s a trinity of three songs, “It Gives, It Takes Parts 1, 2, & 3”. The final of them, though only two-minute’s long is a perfect transition in to the albums closer. Don’t know what to believe or feel/is any of this real. If that is not soul wrenching enough, Every Atlas made sure their last song, “Ghost Story,” which happens to be a near nine minute epic, leaves your head spinning with thought. Spilled your heart upon the deck/so were your expectations met?/the hole is rotting to it’s core/the anchor rests but knows no more/do you compare it to yourself?/a compass lost among the swells/Annabelle no. Every Atlas made “Ghost Story” into a conclusion. Drawing not only the theme of a sailor and a family to an end, but bringing the tale of Annabelle, a name commonly referred to throughout the album, as perhaps the reason behind the pain and suffering, to an end.
Mixed and mastered by Wait! Rewind That Productions, The Ghosts Of Everyone sounds more polished and complete than certain bands do throughout their whole career. Alex and Dustin, the geniuses behind Every Atlas, poured their heart into their work, and it deserves to be heard. There is no auto-tune, there is just soul.
****.5/*****
