“Everything Seems Like Yesterday,” the recently released album by The Frights, encapsulates the difficulties of growth and change in a raw, beautiful way. The fourth studio album was released by the San Diego “surf punk” band in late January and initially received mixed listener reviews.
The album takes a turn from ‘The Frights’ already established sound to a more indie-folk sound. The release of their most popular album “You Are Going to Hate This” in 2016 gave the band a wider audience and established a new sound amongst the other popular indie bands of the time. This surf punk sound has been popular in Southern California since the 1960s and The Frights were able to develop it into something totally new. The album released in 2018, “Hypochondriac”, like “Everything Seems Like Yesterday,” moved further away from those harder punk vibes in an almost “half-transition” to indie-folk. This was perhaps a glimpse of what was to come with the most recently released album.
“Everything Seems Like Yesterday” was originally intended to be a solo act for the band’s vocalist and lead guitarist, Mikey Carnevale, but after receiving feedback from bandmates and fans alike, the album turned into a self-dubbed “natural evolution” for The Frights. Cataloging a year in Carnevale’s personal life, the album has such a vulnerable and honest sound, something that clearly took a lot of thought, production and effort. The album integrates ambient sounds from household items found around Carnevale’s grandmother’s cabin in Idyllwild, California, where the album was recorded. The bassist Richard Dotson and Carnevale recorded the record in sequence over the course of one week, adding to the air of authenticity surrounding the album. So while fans may be disappointed with the less upbeat tempo and themes, it is sufficient to say that The Frights may be paving a new road for a different genre of indie.
The seamless yet ambiguous transitions are perhaps the most striking feature of the album. These, paired with lyrics that reflect the feelings of loss and hope that come with growing up, make listeners feel as if they too have shared the year that occurred between the opening song “24” to the closing song “25.” The use of acoustic guitars and harmonicas call back to the more Bob Dylan and The Beatles songs of the sixties, so audiences are still able to hear that echo of the good old days.
While melodically the songs tend to have a repetitive sound, it is the detail behind them that creates complexity that is hard to find in other works. From the played conversation that kicks the album, to that telephone call used in “Simple And Strange” and the laughter of the ending track that creates a sound that feels conversational yet profound which is something the music industry was lacking. Fortunately for us, The Frights have found a way to make us feel like we are coming home, while still leaving us wondering where they have been this entire time.
Image from Epitaph Records via YouTube
