Everybody Split

構成数 : 1
合計収録時間 : 00:41:52
Audio Mixer: Alex MacFarlane. On 2018's improvised cassette release Ringwood/Ozone, Possible Humans introduced their moody mix of post-punk and indie in a stream-of-consciousness drift that echoed the mystery and potential lurking in their name. With their official debut, Everybody Split, the Melbourne five-piece give their wanderings a little more polish and a lot more structure, and their attempts to give their rangy songs more familiar pop shapes create an intriguing tension. With the addition of distinct verses, choruses, and -- above all -- hooks to their songs, Possible Humans' music hews closer to the brash tunefulness of their Australian contemporaries than before (not surprising, considering that the band recorded Everybody Split with Alex MacFarlane of Twerps and the Stevens, and Mikey Young mastered it). When "Lung of the City" tumbles in on loose flourishes of jangly guitars, or a high-pitched bass line propels the briskly bittersweet "The Thumps," Possible Humans' place in the lineage of bands from the Clean to Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever seems clear. However, not everything on Everybody Split is so straightforward. On "Stinger," the way the guitar solo bounces off the loping rhythm the rest of the band is playing hints that Possible Humans haven't removed all the strangeness from their music, as do "Nomenclature Airspace"'s outsider musings. When they combine this eccentricity with songwriting that packs an emotional wallop, it makes for some of Everybody Split's finest songs. "Aspiring to Be a Bloke" is a haunting highlight that captures the feeling of slowly but irreversibly sliding out of control; as Steve Hewitt sing-sighs "When this is over/I would like to be able to say/That I did everything I could do," he's pulled away by guitar rip currents that grow stronger each time they appear and surrounded by found sounds that add to the air of trippy menace. "Orbiting Luigi" is nearly as complex, with circular wordplay that hints at the yearning crystallized in its guitar solo. Everybody Split's other standouts hark back to Ringwood/Ozone's mercurial shifts: The rubbery chords, charging solos, and plunging bass line of "Absent Swimmer" show just how much the band can pack into a small space, while the 11-minute "Born Stoned" unleashes some of their most transporting and passionate music. On Everybody Split, Possible Humans explore all of their music's possibilities; even if they don't always coalesce, the band's embrace of the unexpected makes for some fascinating listening. ~ Heather Phares