Speak Low If You Speak Love
Everything But What You Need

2.5
average

Review

by Ben STAFF
July 20th, 2016 | 25 replies

Release Date: 2015 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Untapped Potential

‘Everything But What You Need’, the first effort by the side project of State Champs bassist Ryan Scott Graham, is a frustrating listen. That’s not to say that it’s a bad album, but it could have been so much more. Graham consistently under-commits to the ideas he has, ideas that, if fulfilled, would have made for a brilliant record. In the end then ‘Everything But What You Need’ repeatedly comes close to doing something genuinely interesting but all too frequently slumps into mundane, unethralling and overcautious pop-infused emo.

The intimacy of the record is as much of a crutch as it is a selling point. The lyrics often transcend from emotional honesty into incessant whining after a few listens. Examples include “I don’t know anything about anything anymore / and you don’t know anything about me because I wont let you” from ‘A List Of Things’ as well as the bulk of ‘Ruined’, which come across as immature rather than particularly profound. They can also suffer from excessive vagueness often leaving the listener scratching their head, left with the knowledge that Graham is suffering from romantic fatigue but with little elaboration as to why.

Furthermore, Graham’s vocal delivery is irritatingly inconsistent. Despite how the lyrics cascade with emotion on tracks like ‘Locking Lips’, Graham often appears disinterested in the lazy way his lines dribble out in the bulk of the album, the biggest offender being ‘Tiny Furnace’. This isn’t aided by the often-lacking instrumentation, consistently lackluster and aimless. The guitars guitar and the drums drum but nothing much happens of interest. ‘Tiny Furnace’, ‘Confusion’ and ‘Guess and Check’ in particular are unforgivably dull, the former two trying to pick things up with a change of pace in their second halves that come far too late redeem the tracks.

However, the record is not entirely disappointing. Songs like ‘Art School’ and ‘Locking Lips’ sparkle with potential, demonstrating Graham’s ability to carefully blend pop and emo without the music feeling disingenuous as it can do when the two genres collide. The songs are to the point, personal and incredibly catchy, qualities that the record generally lacks. They have an addictive barebones acoustic vibe creating a feeling of intimacy that complements the songs well-crafted lyrics. These lyrics are creative and introspective without slipping into the excessive self-loathing that hinders other tracks on the record. Singles ‘Knots’ and ‘Adjacent’ are also enjoyable even if clearly playing it safe in adopting more of a subdued pop-punk sound. Another standout song is ‘Eight Weeks’, demonstrating a vocal range and variety that is frustratingly lacking from the bulk of the record. Many of these songs admittedly also suffer slightly from vague lyrics and so-so instrumentation but thankfully show Graham’s potential to craft excellent songs in the future.

‘Everything But What You Need’ is an unfortunate example of untapped potential. Many of the record’s flaws arguably stem from Graham’s lack of experience and should hopefully be easily mendable. Furthermore, when Graham delivers compelling vocals with similarly compelling instrumentation, as some tracks prove he can, ‘Speak Low If You Speak Love’ becomes something worth getting excited about. However, in the end the record is plagued with needless filler, often dull instrumentation and inconsistent vocals resulting in an underwhelming experience. Until these flaws are alleviated ‘Speak Low If You Speak Love’ is, for the most part, everything but what we need.

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