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Now, Now Every Children - Cars

Rating

RIYL

Metric
Little Scout
Autolux

Release Date

02/10/2009

Label

Afternoon Records

Tracklist

1. Not One, But Two
2. Everyone You Know
3. Have You Tried
4. Sleep Through Summer
5. Friends with My Sister
6. In My Chest
7. Headlights
8. In the City
9. We Know Martha Webber
10. Little Brother
11. Cars

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Recent Ratings
Rick Gebhardt

With a name as intriguing as Now, Now Every Children, you would hope that an album from them would be full of wonderful surprises and a worthy brand new discovery. With the release of their first LP, Cars, the Minneapolis duo comprised of Caicie Dalager and Brad Hale have brought along a record filled with rhythmic indie pop tunes that combines everything you’d love from the genre: the lo-fi sound mixed with grungy guitar work propels the record along, but not without a few piano and synth tracks to keep you interested.

While only having two members may seem a bit underwhelming, their sound is much larger than expected. This is revealed in the opening track “Not One, but Two” where the transition from a song that is lightly trotting along with an accompaniment from a xylophone blasts into a bass driven, cymbal smashing track that catches you by surprise. As the album is able to start off strong, it also finishes strong with the title track “Cars”. This electro-pop wonder is filled with danceable beats allowing anyone to bounce around with joy. Hale’s drumming deserves some mention as it is the force behind many a song, such as the piano ballad “Friends with My Sister”, the Nintendo-like “We Know Martha Webber”, and the album’s closer “Cars”.

Dalager’s self-conscious lyrics can sometimes be full of melancholy, but while being backed by excitable pop music the songs stray far from depressing. In the track “Sleep Through Summer” where she sings, “I’m sorry dear I haven’t been sleeping / Cause when I have I woke up and thought / It was winter,” clashes against the upbeat drum and synth lines that lead to another loud ending. Still, her lyrics are honest, heartfelt, and sometimes incredibly witty, which makes the duo that much easier to warm up to. They are quirky but at the same time emotional. Her soft, fragile voice gives them a personality that would be lost if it was not Dalager singing them.

There are many notable tracks that stick out, such as the song “Headlights” that follows Hale’s machine-like drum roll, the raucous “In My Chest” which unlike the other songs starts off with the energy instead of leading up to it, and the piano-organ fused “Little Brother” which finds Dalager comfortingly singing, “And little brother we’re all right / just stay inside for now.” What is most impressive from such a young band is that there is no filler - each song on this album has earned its spot as much as the next one. This is usually a rarity but certainly welcomed.

Now, Now Every Children will hopefully catch the attention of many since they show a vast amount of potential to grow into something great. The chemistry between Hale and Dalager, stemming from the afternoons spent after marching band practice building songs such as these, is palpable. They are a band that will have many wish they knew them from when they first started so act quick and jump on the bandwagon as soon as possible because it will surely be full faster than you’d think.

--Andrew Beam