[6/10]
Formed in 2012 as the team up of friends and indie veterans Jarrod Gorbel and Blake Sennett, Night Terrors of 1927 rose to fame last year after two EPs and a fairly successful collaboration with Canadian twins Tegan & Sara, entitled ‘When You Were Mine’. As such, Everything’s Coming Up Roses is their first album released – taking a few of their best tracks from the two EPs, along with plenty of new ones.
The duo have taken their backgrounds in indie, folk and alternative rock and added 80’s-style electronic melodies and hip-hop influenced beats to create a fresh, indie-pop sound. Overall, the album flows well and each track seems to naturally guide you to the next until, before you realise, you’ve spent an hour just soaking it all up. The almost ethereal backing vocals add an extra dimension to the tracks as well.
We start off with the familiar ‘Dust And Bones’ (Guilty Pleas EP, 2013) – a safe choice, but not a bad one. It’s a track that can only really be described as upbeat, in spite of its post-apocalyptic lyrics. A swift move onto new pastures is delivered with the combination of ‘Running In Place’ and ‘Perfect Day’. The former has a big beat with catchy vocals and could easily be remixed into a club hit. The latter is a lot more jovial than the first two tracks with a funky bass line and bouncing synths. We then quickly reach the aforementioned collaboration which is easily one of the best songs on the whole album for its creative use of synth/guitar combos and diverse and interesting vocals.
Sadly, the momentum of the opening tracks is lost as the album progresses further. There isn’t a specifically poor track, but there’s nothing remarkable in the middle of the record. The lyrical style feels a little bit overused and the tracks taking less of the urban influences just don’t quite fit with the album as a whole. Luckily, however, the boys pick it up again towards the end of the record.
For a debut album, Everything’s Coming Up Roses is a pretty good start. Yet, one might argue that, considering the duo’s previous experience, we should be hearing less “good” and more “great” from their foray into newer realms. Despite this, the record is enjoyable, generally upbeat and definitely interesting. The influence of touring partners Tegan & Sara and Fitz & the Tantrums is clear so future tours will no doubt aid them in further development of their sound.
