Review Summary: It’s like I wrote every note with my own fingers…
Summer is one of the best seasons to crank down the windows, feel the air flow through your hair, and crank
up the pop-punk. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that the much-maligned genre has a magical quality when the sun is overhead, the heat is blistering, and the ocean is in plain view. Maybe it is the romantic qualities that usually accompany these types of records, which combined with our summer flings, makes for the ultimate companion. Or perhaps it is the carefree vocals, the catchy rhythms, and the upbeat guitar chords that invigorate us. Either way, albums like Yellowcard’s
Ocean Avenue, Taking Back Sunday’s
Tell All Your Friends, and Blink-182’s self-titled have all found a place in our hearts as
feel good records; but there is one work that seems to evade the same high levels of praise, even though it may very well trump all three of the aforementioned summer classics. The next time the heat is blistering and you decide to take to the beach, I recommend you take Jack’s Mannequin’s
Everything In Transit with you – a record ideal for lazy, sunny afternoons when the sky is blue, the seagulls are flying around in a frenzy, and the air is so humid you can almost taste the salt on your tongue.
‘Holiday From Real’ kicks things off with the sound of those seagulls, along with a playfully bouncy beat and an infectious chorus of “Oh California in the summer, oh and my hair is growin’ long, and f
uck yeah we can live like this.” The lyrics detail an escape from reality, and the song itself complements the laid-back feel established from the get-go. The whole of
Everything In Transit actually possesses a few running storylines – and although it may be a little naïve to slap it with the “concept album” label – it definitely lends Andrew McMahon’s Something Corporate side project a unique flavor. There is nothing completely out of the ordinary present here, just your typical love stories and breakup laments that all end up sounding way more cheerful than they should overtop of glittering pianos, breezy electric guitars, and elated choruses. But there is also an endearing sense of personality that permeates each song on the record, and the listener may find himself/herself relating to the material on this record immediately. The accounts of failed relationships, emotional isolation, and triumphant comebacks are all narrated with remarkable candidness, yet they are common enough experiences by nature to seem like the words you always wanted to express but couldn’t. When McMahon sings, “It’s like I wrote every note with my own fingers” at the end of the dynamic piano-rocker ‘The Mixed Tape’,
Everything In Transit begins to take on the role that he designed it to - and as I have become increasingly convinced of – that it was
destined to.
While oftentimes albums - especially of the pop-punk variety - tend to misfire frequently, Jack’s Mannequin’s debut proves to be the exception to the rule. Its ten songs (eleven if you include the bonus track ‘Into The Airwaves’) are virtually all essential. There are the obvious sure-fire hits, such as ‘Bruised’, ‘Dark Blue’, and the two aforementioned songs that commence the album, along with a long list of sleepers like ‘La La Lie’, ‘Miss Delaney’, and ‘Rescued.’ Even the songs that don’t jump out at you upon glancing over the tracklist are
never easily skipped, especially when listening to
Everything In Transit as a whole, in order from start to finish. Each song strikes the listener with a fresh sound, while somehow remaining loyal to the pervading musical and lyrical themes of the album. For instance, while ‘I’m Ready’ is the first song on
Everything In Transit that doesn’t lodge itself deep within your brain, it is also the first song on the record that displays McMahon’s pleasant-sounding piano abilities in the forefront. Furthermore, his spoken, tongue-in-cheek monologues give mobility to the album’s storyline as McMahon writes, in an almost journal-style entry:
I wake up to find it's another 4 aspirin morning and I dive in
I put on the same clothes I wore yesterday
When did society decide that we have to change
Or wash a T-shirt after every individual use
If it's not dirty, I'm gonna wear it
I take the stairs to the car and there's fog on the windows
I need caffeine in my bloodstream
I take caffeine in the bloodstream
I grip the wheel and all at once I realize
My life has become a boring pop song and everyone's singing along
Even when Jack’s Mannequin isn’t blowing us away with top-notch hooks, McMahon proves that he can keep us engaged for time in between. He proves it in the above scenario, along with the percussion-heavy ‘Miss Delaney’, the soundtrack-tailored ‘Kill The Messenger’, and the slow, pensive ballad, ‘Rescued.’ There really isn’t an instance where
Everything in Transit isn’t packed with either contagious melodies or lyrics; and the best thing about it is that the majority of the time both are occurring in unison. The best example of that may be the closing track, ‘MFEO: Made For Each Other / You Can Breathe.’ While it technically stands as two songs in one, they flow together smoothly to create the ultimate outro for an album already packed with excellent pop sensibility. The first half of the track, ‘Made For Each Other’, is a piano and synth driven love song that is heartfelt enough to make you fall for every drop of sentiment expressed in the line, “Maybe we were made, we were made for each other…Ahh, is it possible for the world to look this way forever?” The second half, ‘You Can Breathe’ gently fades out like an exhale before coming down to Andrew’s message to the listener in which he talks about how long of a ride it’s been, how he needs to run out and buy more tape, etc. It is slightly humorous, slightly charming, and definitely cheesy…but cheesy works in this case, making
Everything In Transit seem like some kind of mixed tape directly from him to his fan base. In fact, maybe that’s exactly what this whole thing is. Everything about the album is so personal, yet delivered like an open book. It’s as good as pop music gets, and from start to finish, it embodies everything that a good album of that nature should. Incredibly meaningful lyrics, soaring hooks, catchy choruses…it is rare to see an album like this that is truly deserving of such high acclaim. Put this up there with the classics of our generation’s pop-punk phase. Crank down the windows, feel the sun on your face, and let
Everything In Transit take care of the rest.
