You, Me, And Everyone We Know – Dogged EP – Album Review

South by Sea Records

 By Johna Autencio

http://www.ymaewk.com/

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a nice cold beer while listening to You, Me, & Everyone We Know‘s newly released EP Dogged.

Releasing on March 17, the six-track album starts off with “Raise Them Bones” – a 57-second song that’s short and sweet. It’s a great way to start the album because once it finishes, it leaves you wanting more. It’s a track that instantly grabs attention because vocalist Ben Liebsch jumps into the lyrics immediately with the acoustic guitar strumming in urgency.

The last three songs, “Eat My Hands,” “Brooks Was Here” and “A Pleasant Bummer” were my overall favourites.

“Eat My Hands” is a tune with beats that keep getting better and better as the song plays.  The rhythm of drums and guitars automatically cause the listener to nod in time, without any awkward pauses.

“A Pleasant Bummer” is a more slow-paced track compared to the rest of the EP. With memorable lyrics like We’re doomed / And blessed / I guess/, I couldn’t help but put this song on repeat the most because of its softer tone. Plus, who doesn’t love a good oxymoron in the title?

Considering how the entire EP is about Liebsch’s journey of getting his life back on track after sobering up, I found “Brooks Was Here” to be an interesting song. It may all be a coincidence, but when I Googled the title of this song to read the lyrics, the results brought me to the film The Shawshank Redemption because the film has a song with the same title. If you put two-and-two together, the film and the overall theme of the EP is about redemption, especially with the other two tracks “Does It Amaze Thee?” and “I’d Rather Be Sleeping” relating to Liebsch’s life.

Overall, the entire album tells Liebsch’s honest journey about moving forward. Through the music and lyrics, it is known that Liebsch is healthier than ever and more than willing to share his story with his fans, which can be heard throughout Dogged.