Everyone Asked About You - Everyone Asked About You

 

    Everyone Asked About You is by absolutely no means a well known band. They have no website, no Wikipedia page, just a few scattered blog posts written by those who’ve been shown the way. The way of a niche emo band from the center of Arkansas, with only a handful of songs under their belt and no budget to be seen. This is another addition to that collection.

By the time it takes you to finish this review you could listen to this EP in its entirety. It struggles to even hit eleven minutes, with only four tracks evenly distributed across the 7” record it came on. You won’t find it on streaming services (you will however find a compilation album of B sides released fifteen years after the band’s demise, surprisingly), and you won’t find a copy (Lord knows I pray for one)*. In classic twee fashion, the band members signed their first names and last initials on each copy, as if it were a school project. Their names were Hannah V. as the main vocalist, Chris S. as the backup vocalist and on keys and guitar, Collins K. on guitar and keys, and Lee B. on drums (who is now a part of an semi-big metal band). The record really does resemble a elementary schooler’s art project, with hearts drawn anywhere they could fit and big solid color squares to fill the gaps. 

Firstly this is only emo in name. The vocals are saccharine to a sickening degree, in blatant violation of the emo songwriting textbook, which demands nothing but pure rage and angst be projected at the listener. Female vocalists are uncommon in emo as it is, but especially ones that go against the grain to this degree. The unusual juxtaposition of the almost pop vocals against these feedback ridden guitars is one of the EP’s greatest strengths. The singing sobers you up from all the melancholia of the lyrics, like a chaser. 

The EP is equally divided between the sad and the cheerful. Elements of both seemingly contradictory emotions can sprinkles throughout the EP, oftentimes coexisting in the same song. “It’s Days Like This That Make Me Wish the Summer Lasted Forever” is clearly the most out of place, being by all measurements a happy song. At the climax of the song, and the most energetic moment on the entire EP, Hannah lets out a barrage of “I love you”s. That moment sums up the band perfectly, nothing but tenderness in unexpected places. “Me vs. You” shares another equally intimate, this time much more as a confession than expression of gratitude. 

Other tracks are just as sad as conventional emo, but in a different sense. Most emo is sad at the world for whatever reason is troubling them, but Everyone Asked About You is sad in the same way missing out on a night out with friends is sad. It’s tangential, it’s grounded. It’s personal. The lyrics unlock a forgotten heartache from deep down inside, it’s almost spiritual in a way. The triple-eponymous closing track “Everyone Asked About You” meditates on this state of grief. It’s reassuring in a way, it negates the creeping feeling that your friends secretly hate you. There is real pain in the vocals, not in a angry way, but almost disappointed. They were excited to see you, but you didn’t show. Now they wrote a song about how much they miss you.

I remember listening to this for the first time on Christmas day. I had finished with the festivities and scrambled back to my room for solace. I listened to this off of a friend’s recommendation, which they insisted was one of the greatest musical projects ever released. Within the first seconds I knew it would be special. Something about the mic clipping in the beginning and those first lonely notes sparked something in me. Then the vocals came in. They were angelic. So moving while saying so little. It’s lightning in a bottle, an intersection of so many unique ideas that it makes this so incredibly special. I always recommend this to anyone who will listen. And why not? It’s a bite sized introduction to what I love in music: amateurishness and unbridled emotional vulnerability.

* - As I was writing this, I found a copy on vinyl. God works in mysterious ways.