Neutral Milk Hotel
Everything Is

THE REVIEW

It's 1994 when Mr. Jeff Mangum, a distant veteran of the Synthetic Flying Machine (later known as The Olivia Tremor Control), and his new band, the Neutral Milk Hotel, release, after a series of demo tapes now hard to find, their first EP, "Everything Is".

With extremely low audio quality, even lower than the group's two subsequent albums, this record is a rapid journey into a sick universe. Although it precedes both albums, the EP represents the perfect synthesis of "On Avery Island" and "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea," featuring what seem to be embryonic songs that would follow. The title track, with its marked tendency towards rock and terrible distortion, closely recalls "Holland 1945" from several years later, just as the following "Snow Pt.1" turns out to be the perfect twin of "Communist Daughter". And if the crazy delirium of "Aunt Emma Blowtorch" is reminiscent of the final track of the band's first album, "Pree-Sister Swallowing Donkey's Eye", "Tuesday Song" proves to be a rhythmically more cheerful and melodic song, still similar to "Holland".

Finished with all these comparisons, there's very little left to say about "Everything Is". This EP is, as already mentioned, a simple embryo, a small taste of the two undisputed masterpieces that will follow.

Only for enthusiasts.