Album Review: Much The Same – Everything Is Fine

Everything Is Fine and the single Snake In The Grass mark Chicago skate punk veterans Much The Same‘s first recorded output for 13 years, and are released in time to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary. Granted, there was an eight-year hiatus after the 2007 European tour when the band fractured under the weight of ‘changing dreams and character flaws’, but 2015 saw the band reformed, refreshed and raring to go. Everything Is Fine is the fruit of that rebirth.

Snake In The Grass – the single and track two on the album – is a triumphant example of Much The Same‘s penchant for penning fast and melodic power punk songs with immediate impact. They manage that most difficult trick – of melding hard rocking and driving guitar punk with sensitive and soul-baring lyrics – and do it superlatively well. In fact, you can view the positivity and energy of this album through the lens of guitarist Dan O’Gorman‘s victory over cancer. This has resulted in one very affecting track, In The Event Of … which is a simple acoustic guitar (capoed very high up the neck for a ukulele effect?) and vocal treatise on the trials of being very ill and a very affecting track that provides a context for the otherwise upbeat tone of the album. Even without that diversion and context, this is an immediately fine album, full of verve and masterful songcraft. There is a lot of energy crammed into the remaining 8 songs and the methodology is simple and glorious: fast, anthemic power punk with massive hooks that sounds simultaneously vitally urgent and effortless. Standout track for me is Strangers In Fiction, which demonstrates this approach perfectly and, if not already, is sure to be a moshpit favourite.

A welcome return from an excellent band and a storming album regardless of the history.

 Everything Is Fine and Snake In The Grass are released on 26^th July via Thousand Islands Records and Lockjaw Records