You, Me, And Everyone We Know - Some Things Don't Wash Out (ALBUM REVIEW)

Click READ MORE to check out my review of the new You, Me, And Everyone We Know album.

It seems like anyone who has ever been involved with Drive Thru Records in any way, post-MCA years, has found their band waiting a few years to release their debut album. The group You, Me, And Everyone We Know also found themselves under the curse…that is until Doghouse Records came to the rescue and now, after a few more delays, the long-awaited full length Some Things Don’t Wash Out has finally been released.

One thing is for sure that right out the gate the listener knows this is going to be a different kind of album. The first couple of tracks address a lot of things about the band, not so many songs about girls, a little retaliation for some bad business, and some well-needed lifeblood pumped back into a genre. I’m not saying the band is re-inventing the wheel, and the obvious comparisons to Say Anything have been tossed around quite a bit, but for the most part this is a solid pop/rock record. The record is well done, well mixed, and incorporates an interesting use of horns throughout. I have heard some people try to make this out as the new Is A Real Boy. Although I would not argue because it does follow the same kind of vibe, at the same time it is its own beast. I cannot full heartedly say this is the new Is A Real Boy because well it’s the new You, Me, And Everyone We Know album. I think tagging it kind of sets the listener up with expectations that are kind of unfair.

I’ve heard some people criticize the band for losing energy on their long-awaited full length. It is a little less “crazy” sounding, but overall the nice production and well delivered vocals make up for it. The lyrics are actually one of the best things about the album. Vocalist Ben Liebsch, the only original member, has nice vocal delivery and the lyrics are a mirror to kind of what it is like to be around his age. There is no doubt he is the bands leader and one of the most important, if not the most important, part of this band. In addition, if you’ve kept up with this band you basically know this band was started in 2006 and the group is mostly made up of members that came into the group from 2008-2010. There were quite a few line-up changes between the new members between those years as well, so it isn’t that surprising that they are a little different sounding musically than they were on their debut EP. “Livin the Dream” shows up, which was on the original EP, but it has been re-worked slightly. However, some fans may cringe at the cleaned up sound, but for a track that’s been around a while, it’s a facelift.

The major downfall on the album is the track “James Brown Is Dead.” It isn’t an entirely bad song. It starts decently but the chorus just doesn’t work for me and the overall sound of the song just doesn’t fit well with the album and would have been better left as a b-side and substituted with a different song. However, the horns on the song are nicely done. With some songs, I grow to like them later. It may be a late bloomer in my mind and might catch my ear at a later point, but right now, it feels like one of the potholes in a pretty nice road.

I’ve been disappointed by a lot of the artists in the pop/rock genre these days. Occasionally, there is a new good band that comes out, but there are also quite a few really bad bands. You, Me, And Everyone We Know’s Some Things Don’t Wash Out may be one of the better debut pop/rock albums of the year. I’m not sure if it will win people who think the genre’s new talent has grown stale over the last couple of years over. They may have started to look to other genres, but for people who are fans of this genre and have found themselves less than impressed with debut albums from other artists this might be a welcomed listen.