What if a bunch of goofy stoners put together a band, wrote wacky and spastic (but surprisingly good) songs about life and religion, and had a vocalist who sounds like Neil Young? That would be The Flaming Lips, correct, but Everything, Now! also checks off all of the above without sounding anything like Wayne Coyne’s crazy crewpaloop (the Willy Wonka version of “possyâ€â€¦copyright, by the way). Apparently there’s room for two bands to hold up the wacky-philosophical-drugged-out-Neil Young banner. 
The difference between the bands, however, is that even since their early years, The Flaming Lips’ music has always had a certain weight to it that has allowed the band to evolve into the magical, euphoric outfit they’ve been since The Soft Bulletin. Everything, Now! On the other hand, never approach the point where you’re tempted to take them seriously. Even so, their compositional skills and inspired production are seriously impressive.
At the root of Everything, Now!’s sound is a basis in the old school folk tradition which, like Neil Young, they blow up with crunchy electric guitars, among other things. Sometimes – for instance, in the opening of “Hello God†– the band even sounds like M. Ward backed up by Danielson Famille. Like with Danielson Famille, there is the religion connection that has Everything, Now! making explicit religious allusions (if not outright retelling a biblical parable) in songs like the aforementioned “Hello Godâ€, as well as “Brother of the Prodigal Sonâ€, “Savior of Sector Ten†and “In Heaven Smoking Trees.†You’d think a band that makes so many religious references would be kind of a heavy listen…but then the next song on the tracklist is “Hairy Ears of Soul Captain Serpentine†or “Save a Life with Diet Chocolate Spriteâ€. Very heavy indeed.
While some bands that write such outright ridiculous songs just come off as annoying, Everything, Now!’s songs are never less than both entertaining and highly listenable, though 16 tracks does begin to feel a little tiresome towards the end of the record. The length is understandable though when it becomes apparent that Everything, Now! just has way too many ideas to filter them down to the trim length of most albums. How could the band let tracks like the snaky “Venus Tossed The Dice†with its quavering chorus of vocals go to waste? And the epic “Oh Yeah†needed to be on there (though it should have been the closer, not pre-closer). Same goes for the whacked out nursery rhyme-like “Alice of Dixie Cupâ€.
Though it’s hard to imagine Everything, Now! ever aspiring to the Empyrean plateau The Flaming Lips have achieved, Spatially Severed proves that should they try to, their reach might just meet their grasp.
Spatially Severed is available now from MFT Records.
Tracklisting:
01. Burden Time
02. The Shelter
03. Labyrinth
04. Brother of the Prodigal Son
05. The Hairy Ears of Soul Captain Serpentine
06. Venus Tossed the Dice
07. Alice of Dixie Cup
08. Hello God
09. Savior of Sector Ten
10. Lifting Waits
11. Save a Life with Diet Chocolate Sprite
12. People
13. Bubble By
14. Self-Proclaimed Prince of the Hamlet
15. Oh Yeah
16. In Heaven Smoking Trees
Everything, Now!: website | myspace | download Prequels and Parallels
Written by: Marc Z. Grub
