Search - Earlimart :: Everyone Down Here

Never Too Late for Earlimart

superball9 | Arlington, VA, USA | 02/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just what the world needs, another spacey band from Los Angeles. Fortunately Earlimart, named after a migrant worker farm town halfway between Los Angeles and Fresno, goes beyond being just "another spacey band" manging to fill icy cold music about decay and civilization (I'm looking at you Grandaddy) with warmth and compassion. Like Grandaddy, and The Flaming Lips for that matter, Earlimart went from releasing a couple albums as a post-punk experimental art-rock band into an act that can realize quiet, hushed spaces as appropriately as more boisterous ones. Both *Everyone Down Here* and *The Avenues E.P.* (a slightly earlier release) were written at the same time, so it makes sense to talk of them together despite the band's ever-changing line-up, apart from frontman Aaron Espinoza, including Patrick Park, the New Folk Implosion's Russ Pollard, and Grandaddy's Jason Lytle and Jim Fairchild.*Everyone Down Here* is basically the best record the eels didn't release last year. Imagine a studio jam session between E from the eels, Elliott Smith, and Grandaddy - and you have Earlimart. Lasting only 32 and some minutes, *EDH* gives you just enough to get sucked in before coming to a close. The album opens up with the slow build of guitars on "We're So Happy (We Left The Piano In The Truck)" before another distorted guitar comes in with the melody line giving way to a falling effect and what could best be descibed as those sonar deep sea pings you hear in those submarine movies with a dash of echo thrown in just for kicks. The track closes in with some childish humming before the familar strum of "We Drink On The Job" kicks in. Clearly the disc's single, "Drink," complete with cowbell and spacey swirling guitars is as close to "pop" as Earlimart comes. "The Movies" could've been one of Elliott Smith's lost tunes with it's slow minor piano beginning before filling in with soft drums, guitar, and what I'm going to call just an 'air organ.' Coming on slowly after "The Movies" is the ninety-second "Lost At Sea" catching up on Earlimart's origins with its punk rock swirls and distorted vocals followed by a thirty-second untitled re-take on "Lost At Sea." "Burning The Cow" harkens back to "We Drink On The Job" and sounds more inline with Grandaddy's less introspective moments on The Sophtware Slump with its power-art-rock chords, distorted guitar, and choruses. The distance effects on "Hospital" contrasting with the bright organ line only heighten the despair and segues perfectly into "Lazy Feet 23." "LF23" opens with a simple acoustic guitar strum backed by that high-pitched CB static common to supernatural phenomena and trucker movies. "Big Ol' Black" and "Dreaming Of..." are reminiscent of "The Movies" with its focus on the slightly out-of-tune piano off in the distance. Another untitled track of effects, watery piano, and distorted sci-fi chimes (think of the sound the cosmic key made from The Masters Of The Universe movie) leads into the elegiac disc closer, "Night, Nite" with its combination of watery piano, distorted guitar, and simple drum charge. The production on *Everyone Down Here* is topnotch - each instrument or effect feels like it belongs and that something would sadly be missing if it was absent. The subtle mixture of acoustic guitars and untreated drums laced with the more technologically advanced effects, often beginning in the background before slowly making their way to the fore of the mix, create this warm texture missing from so many of their genre compatriots. *Everyone Down Here* lacks the epic feel to Grandaddy's *The Sophtware Slump* and latest outing, *Sumday,* but they should not go unnoticed because of it. Sometimes the best things come in the smallest, most unassuming packages.Fave tracks: "We Drink On The Job," "The Movies," "Lazy Feet 23.""

So happy

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 08/09/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Say goodbye to the old Earlimart. In second album "Everyone Down Here," the formerly punky-rock group changes their sound to a sort of mildly Grandaddyish sound, complete with stoned vocals and a gently spacey rock sound. It's simple and pleasant, though never quite excellent.



It starts off with the mellow "We're So Happy (We Left the Piano in the Truck)" solid fuzz-chime-rocker "We Drink on the Job," and the melancholy "The Movies," with a gentle piano-percussion solo that is among the best moments of the album. But it strays into blistering hard-rockin' turf with "Lost At Sea," and hits midpoint with a weird little thirty-second instrumental that seems to be mostly random strumming and feedback. It sounds like they're unsure whether to continue as they are, or go back to their old sound.



But Earlimart makes up its mind quickly, and gets the hard rock out of their systems. The rock-y sound continues with the ear-splitting "Burning the Cow," only to die away in favor of a new sound. This spacey-folk sound climaxes with

"Hospital" and the eerie "Big Ol' Black," before rounding off with a tinkling, sputtering "Untitled" and the lullaby-like "Nite Nite."



Quick SAT moment: Earlimart's "Everyone Down Here" is to Grandaddy what the Decemberists are to Neutral Milk Hotel -- a pleasant sort of "lite" sound without most of the musical complexity. But this sound fits Earlimart a lot better than their original sound did, which was a sort of unoriginal Pixies/Sonic Youth sound.



The music is definitely showing growth, with its shimmery piano and good guitar riffs. Not to mention the occasional electronica swash, hints of spacey distortion and copious amounts of musical fuzz in all the right places. Just don't pay attention to the boring, forgettable lyrics ("It's all right/we'll leave it alone/and it was nice/we'll miss you/now off you go...").



A simpler and spacier Sparklehorse, or a more everyday Grandaddy -- you be the judge. Earlimart's "Everyone Down Here" presents a more exotic sound for the band, and it fits them well. Recommended for lovers of space-folk and eerie post-punk."

Ultra Vivid Scene??

Daniel Leithauser | Grand Junction, CO USA | 04/17/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lots of comparisons to other bands in the reviews. Ok, here's mine.... I was listening to a Real Audio station and heard this great sounding band with some interesting fuzz piano, cool guitar riffs and a voice that I compared with Ultra Vivid Scene--especially the first song. I bought Everyone Down Here and found it to have lots of Ultra Vivid Scene characteristics that I liked. I also seem to find some Wilco here... with that jam feel and interesting vocals. I do not think it is The Strokes or Radiohead, but I guess I can see the analogy. I like this album--it is strong musically, and while I have not heard the earlier stuff (with its mostly poor reviews here), this album must be different.... buy it if you like Ultra Vivid Scene, Wilco, or similar bands."