Album Review: “Everyone Else” by Slothrust

With the release of their third studio album, Everyone Else, New York City’s Slothrust picks up where they left off, presenting the stylized grungy, pop-punk vivacity heard on the previous albums but with a more developed understanding of dynamics and tone quality. Instead of exhausting the thrashing, distortion-driven guitar on every track, Slothrust approaches this album with a slightly more delicate attention to contrast. The hit single, “Like A Child Hiding Behind Your Tombstone”, investigates the space between head-banging and slow-dancing behind images of melting plastic and cemeteries, guiding listeners through familiar teen loneliness in the shadow of apathy. In fact, much of front-woman Leah Welbaum’s lyrics on this album confront the inherent sadness of the day-to-day, but much like other contemporaries of the punk tradition, she does so playfully, enhancing the contrast between content and context.

However, Everyone Else definitely engages the deeper side of Slothrust’s musicianship, more-so than their previous albums. The bluesy, surf-rock guitar melodies, such as on “The Last Time I Saw My Horse”, prove to be more calculated and determined, but ultimately these melodies loosen and fade within the growing grunge drive of the background. The blend of the two on Everyone Else reveals a matured understanding of production quality and attention to detail. The album grows darker as it progresses, taking itself more seriously until it reaches the finale, “Pigpen”, a triumphant blend of everything enjoyed on the previous tracks and a poignant exclamation point.

Slothrust specializes in a target genre, so they’re not for everyone, but Everyone Else proves the band is not done exploring their horizons. I give this album a 6.8 out of 10. I respected the album more after comparing it to their first two, which were almost wholly forgettable. It took me a couple of listens before I really got an idea of what I was hearing, and while it’s not the most memorable of albums, it definitely comes with surprises and tracks worth humming.