Review by Shannon Shumaker
Everything Is A-OK, the latest album from Brisbane’s Violent Soho is easily the band’s most honest release to date. There’s a sense of comfortability that comes with the album’s very first track and doesn’t let go until the very end, and I mean that in the best way possible – this is a band who truly knows who they are. Ten songs in length, Everything Is A-OK is a direct reflection of life as a band in 2020 – it’s apolitical, slacker and cynical, as vocalist Luke Boerdam has put it, and it’ll certainly hit home with listeners.
Sonically, Everything Is A-OK is sure to stand out because frankly, there isn’t much like this out there right now. These songs will likely make you a little nostalgic for 90’s alt-rock, but it doesn’t feel dated by any means. That, coupled with blunt, honest lyricism makes for an album with total staying power. It’s timeless, and that sound can be heard clear as day within the first track, “Sleep Year” and the catchy as hell, “Vacation Forever.” Carried by powerful lyrics, “Vacation Forever” is a soon to be anthem for disenchanted millennials, with lines like, “Cause they all want the good life / but I just want to breathe.”
There really isn’t a low point on Everything Is A-OK, either. Each track stands out on its own while still flowing well together. “Pick It Up Again” will easily get stuck in your head while songs like “Canada” will make you wish it was summer already. The middle of the album is easily one of its high points with the cynical “Shelf Life” leading into the stunning “Slow Down Sonic”, then the catchy, “Lying on the Floor,” which is actually the perfect song for being stuck inside during quarantine with lines like, “Lying on the floor is all I wanna do.” The album’s final track, “A-OK” perfectly sums up Everything Is A-OK as a whole while keeping listeners on their toes, offering a warm, acoustic-driven closer.
The great thing about Everything Is A-OK is that it doesn’t try to be something that it’s not. Lyrically, album is brutally honest, and sonically, it’s clear that Violent Soho have found their niche. There isn’t a single track that sounds out of place or forced, making Everything Is A-OK easily one of the band’s best releases to date.
LISTEN TO “Vacation Forever” or “Canada”
STAY CONNECTED WITH VIOLENT SOHO: https://www.facebook.com/violentsoho/