ALBUM REVIEW: Everything Goes Right, All At Once – Grieving

Their name might be morbid, but GRIEVING are anything but. The Cambridge quartet’s music draws on elements of DC hardcore, early emo, and early 2000s punk and indie rock and their debut album Everything Goes Right, All At Once looks to build on the momentum of their pre-pandemic debut EP to showcase the band’s talent, delivering insistent hooks and their own unique style of music.

Across 11 songs, GRIEVING take you on a journey. Whether it is the fast-paced energetic rock of opening track Brain Emo, the short indie rock song 10x Michelangelo, or the slow-turned-fast My Friend, The Ghost, the band keep the audience on their toes, playing around and experimenting with their sound whilst also staying coherent by sticking to the broad genre of rock. The pacing of the album is steady, with generous song runtimes ensuring that even the faster ones don’t just fly by.

Saying that, the middle of the album does have a few songs which sound similar, which does bog it down a bit. For a moment it feels like the band have backed themselves into a corner and have decided to play it safe by sticking to a similar sound, but on the other hand this is their debut album, and therefore it is still early days for them, and thankfully the songs do become easier to differentiate again as the record continues.

The final three songs – Puritans, The World Still Turns and Old Wives – are some of the best on the album. Puritans is a fast-paced rock song, The World Still Turns is a slow-paced rock song, and Old Wives is a guitar-driven indie rock song. Each has their own voice and encapsulates the best thing about the album, which is how talented the band are. They are at their best when they just let go and have fun, which – for the majority of this album – is exactly what they do.

Overall, Everything Goes Right, All At Once is a fun and unique album that showcases the talents of a very exciting band. GRIEVING manage to cover a multitude of sub-genres, whilst also creating a coherent album. Even though it is still early days for the band, they have broadened their horizons here; they may still have a way to go, but this album proves that there are still exciting rock bands emerging from the underground.

Rating: 8/10

Everything Goes Right, All At Once is out now via By The Time It Gets Dark Records.

Like GRIEVING on Facebook.