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All Get Out

The Season

Written by: TL on 20/12/2011 23:34:47

Here's the deal: I'm still currently trying to figure out where I placed my eloquence when I stopped writing some weeks back, and until I find it, you guys are going to have to endure me being a bit blunt in these reviews. Take this one, on South Carolina quartet All Get Out's debut album "The Season", which I'm writing about because a) it was submitted as a promo and b) because I read elsewhere that it was a good record, especially for fans of Manchester Orchestra and Brand New (Which I am).

Consider that notion verified, as "The Season" does indeed offer 10 cuts of ragged, energetic American rock music, complemented with folksy horns and strings on occasion, and given how much singer Nathan Hussey sounds like Manchester Orchestra's Andy Hull, it's reaaaally hard to not make the comparison. If you come in expecting the melancholia of Brand New however, you might be disappointed, for while Hussey's vocal lines aren't exactly warm rays of sunshine, several of the songs here have a noticeable sense of optimism to their instrumental sides at least.

What's more important though, is that most of them display All Get Out's unquestionable knack for spinning a good tune, and what's even more important is that a select few of them display their knack for spinning truly great ones. Enter first the up-beat "Lucky Bastard", with its irresistible signature guitar and powerful refrain going "I've found another reason, I wanna go home, this city's fuckin' cold and I wanna go home, I'm feeling co-dependant, I miss my baby girl". And later on, towards the end of the record, check out "Let Me Go", all sizzling with naked, bitter emotion, as the song eventually breaks down and let's Hussey deliver an unforgettable recitation going:

"I tried convincing God to change you

We had it out, and he said, "No"

Said a choice is a choice, and he says you made it

He'll help you along, but God why is nothing free?"

Just listen to that and tell me that's not how it's done. Unfortunately, "Let Me Go" and "Lucky Bastard" are so good in my opinion, that the remaining 8 tracks eventually fall a little short, not making quite as lasting an impression, although numbers like "My Friends", "Girl, Gun" and "Subject To Change" are headed in the right direction. Maybe that's exactly the right phrase to stick to this band though: "headed in the right direction". If experience teaches them to produce at their highest level more consistently, then that would surely be the case, so surely, they're ones to keep an eye on, especially if you are at all into any of the bands already referenced or listed in the FTFO below.

Download: Lucky Bastard; Let Me Go; Girl, Gun
For The Fans Of: Manchester Orchestra; The Xcerts; Hammonds, Harrington & Destroy
Listen: allgetout.bandcamp.com

Release Date 20.09.2011
Favorite Gentlemen Recordings