All Get Out - Side A
Although I now consider them one of my favorite bands, All Get Out was completely unknown to me about a year ago. I came across the South Carolina-based band after doing some heavy listening to fellow Southern indie/emo/post-hardcore rockers Manchester Orchestra, as they have shared time on Favorite Gentleman Records. If you have listened to either Manchester Orchestra or Colour Revolt, or generally like anything Andy Hull has associated with, All Get Out fits right in between them all musically. Their debut album, The Season, immediately grabbed me, especially the record-ending combo of “Let Me Go” and “Come and Gone.” The rest of their discography is just as good, even better in most parts. No Bouquet (check out “Value”) and All Get Out (check out “Windows 98”) are absolutely solid albums, and Kodak (check out “DFR” and “Sumter”) lands in my personal top five desert island albums at this point. I could write a whole another post about Kodak, and the lyrical themes in All Get Out’s music that resonate with me deeply; including narcissistic relationships, substance abuse, and spiritual deconstruction. Don’t think I don’t see that Pedro the Lion tattoo on your arm, Nathan Hussey.
Needless to say, since internet whispers foretold a new All Get Out album coming out sometime this fall, I have been on high alert for its release. Last night, the new album, Side A, released on Bandcamp at midnight. Still wired from watching the Mariners and Blue Jays battle in Game 7 of the ALCS, I couldn’t go to sleep without a few introductory spins of Side A.
“NBT” begins the album with a good dose of energy, continuing the song-naming trend of self-referencing acronyms. “Dont Know How” is a good example of the All Get Out lyrical adventure. I like how the vocals drive the song, carrying the guitar behind it with a call-and-response dynamic.
“Any Way You Want” is the lead single from the album. Lead singer Nathan Hussey has not done a whole lot of screaming since The Season, but it is nice to see he still has the pipes here. All Get Out gets to showcase their loud/soft dynamics here. Can’t nobody hate you like Christian love.
“Yadi Yada” sounds like an outtake from All Get Out, their 2023 album. I like that it does not hide their big bass guitar sound. Good track to play loud with coffee.
“Skinny” is a shapeshifter of a track. I feel like I often have a hard time pinning down the flow of an All Get Out track when it is new to me, but I think it adds to the personal replayability of their music. The musical direction is often at the mercy of the vocal trailblazing. By the time “Skinny” is over, I am wondering “how did the track get here?” And that is an incredibly enjoyable part of the album process for myself.
“Out of Your Mind” and “Didn’t Warn You” are fairly standard AGO fare.
“Enough About God” is probably the best song on the album on my first few go-arounds, and the first one that has me clicking play again immediately after it ends. The first two and half minutes is its own capsule of a song within a song; but I think the final three minutes of the track is the apex of the album. Hang on for dear life for the lyrical soliloquy that ends the album. I will be unpacking this one for a while.
At only eight tracks and thirty-two minutes, the album feels a little short. Hopefully the title Side A implies a Side B with another eight tracks and half hour of music. But even if it does not, Side A on its own is a high-quality entry to the discography. I don’t think it is quite up to the peak of Kodak, but it has a lot of grower vibes that the previous album, All Get Out, has. I will be listening to it quite a bit. I find myself needing to track down a lyrics sheet. It has been a long time since I bought an album at release date, while also trying to track down liner notes. The last time I did, there were probably double zeroes in the middle of what year it was.
Side A has also been a great opportunity to eschew the Spotify model of musical-listening, also. I downloaded the album in lossless FLAC from Bandcamp. It’s nice to own your media and support your favorite artists directly. Hopefully this means there’s a 2026 tour on the horizon as well. I’ve been kicking myself that I did not get into All Get Out sooner, as I have missed a handful of local-ish tour dates.
A final note: 2025 will be over soon, which means it is nearly time for a review of 2025’s live music, my first full year in over a decade. And it has been an incredible one! There’s only one potential live item on the calendar for the rest of 2025. I have a pair of tickets for Foxing’s sold-out farewell show in St. Louis on December 6th, circumstances permitting.