Man Alive, Mayam

This album reminds me of my 160 GB iPod Classic and college days. Traveling in local buses/metros in India, whether going to college (which was in the middle of nowhere) or walking through the bustling streets of Delhi, listening to this album on my audiophile headphones while looking at everything in front of me was such a radical contrast! While the locals listened to old crappy tunes from flop Bollywood movies from the '90s and carried along with the humdrum of their lives, the eighteen-year-old in me felt so cool and walked like a snob, basking internally in the grandeur of my thoughts. Like no one, literally no one in front of me could ever guess what I was listening to.

Also, a part of me carried those cool headphones and an iPod Classic with hopes that someday a beautiful woman will notice and actually approach me, impressed with my coolness and snobby 'tude. Oh when I say it, trust me, iPod Classic and audiophile headphones were a BIG DEAL in India (unlike here you spoiled brats in America!.. sorry :p)

Well now about the music actually. This album is inventive and an explosion of math rhythms, art rock, and indie pop. There are a lot of cool digital distortions throughout the album. It was like nothing I ever heard the first time I listened to it and it remains so fresh and in a category of one even all these years later. It's so original. Really cool album by a really cool band. 

Oh yes, one more thing... had to wait until I reached Philly to finally have a beautiful woman notice and approach me! You know who I am talking about LOL! Cheers 🍻

Album of the Week: Man Alive

Congrats to all the Record Club alumni nominated for a Grammy this year. Kendrick Lamar's GNX is nominated for Album of the Year, as well as non-RC albums from alumni Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, and Tyler, the Creator. A few Song/Record of the Year noms for Doechii and Chappell Roan (woof, that Doechii song is BY FAR the worst thing she's ever done). Other RC alumni farther down the list: Bon Iver, Miley Cyrus, HAIM (for I quit), Kaytranada, Tame Impala, PinkPantheress, Tyler Childers, Jelly Roll (for Beautifully Broken), Willie Nelson, Margo Price, Marshall Allen's Sun Ra Arkestra, and Reba McEntire. All of the albums nominated for these artists (and most of the albums that the song nominations can be found on) have already been reviewed as part of our RC f/u series, which can be found if you click on the "supplemental" link right below this sentence, then scroll down.

Record Club:

archives | supplemental

spotify playlist | youtube playlist

choose | writing

WEEK 354 — November 9-15, 2025

Man Alive

by Everything Everything

LISTEN:

Spotify | YouTube | Bandcamp | Apple

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PICKED BY MAYAM

MAYAM'S COMMENTS: "Circa 2010: my brains were blown out of the water during my first year in college when I first heard the tracks 'MY KZ, UR BF' and 'Photoshop Handsome' on their debut album Man Alive! I have been a fan ever since!"

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ALBUM DETAILS

GENRE: Progressive pop, math pop, indietronica, post-punk revival, alternative dance

RELEASED: August 30, 2010

LENGTH: 52:04

TRACKLIST:

1. MY KZ, UR BF
2. Qwerty Finger
3. Schoolin'
4. Leave the Engine Room
5. Final Form
6. Photoshop Handsome
7. Two for Nero
8. Suffragette Suffragette
9. Come Alive Diana
10. NASA Is on Your Side
11. Tin (The Manhole)
12. Weights

LYRICS: Genius, with notations from Everything Everything themselves

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ARTIST DETAILS

PRONOUNS: he/him/his preference for Higgs

ABOUT: Everything Everything formed in Manchester in 2007. Current members are Jonathan Higgs (lead vocals, keyboards), Alex Robertshaw (lead guitar, keyboards), Jeremy Pritchard (bass guitar, keyboards), and Michael Spearman (drums, keyboards only "occasionally"). Alex Niven (lead guitar, NOT keyboards) was a founding member, but left the band in 2009, to be replaced by Robertshaw (though there was some overlap, so both end up on Man Alive). Everything Everything are "noted for an extremely eclectic and dynamic style, with complex song construction and dense, detailed lyrics sung in a rapid-fire, falsetto delivery by Higgs." They've been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize twice. They'll be touring the UK at the end of the month to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their album Get to Heaven. Unknown if they have any new music in the works.

DISCOGRAPHY: Man Alive is Everything Everything's debut album. They have since released six additional studio albums. Most recent of them was 2024's Mountainhead. They have also released six EPs over the years.

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ADDITIONAL INFO

READING SOME SHIT: a 2012 Q&A on a music blog

WATCHING SOME SHIT: a 2010 concert in which I'm pretty sure they play the whole album, though perhaps not in order

RECORD CLUB CONNECTIONS: Everything Everything gets their name from the first two words sung in Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place." Along with Radiohead, they have been nominated for multiple Mercury Prizes, but have never won. In 2011, they lost alongside Adele (to PJ Harvey). In 2018, they lost alongside Arctic Monkeys and Florence + the Machine (to Wolf Alice). Jeremy Pritchard played bass on tour with three-time Mercury Prize loser Foals in 2019 in support of RC albums Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Part 1 and Part 2.

Besides those two Foals albums, two additional RC albums have the word "everything" in them: everything is alive by Slowdive and Overthinking Everything by Footballhead. Last week, we have School Days, and this week we have a song called "Schoolin'." The song "Come Alive Diana" has a RC album's title in its name (diana). "Two for Nero" gives RC two for Nero after Slipknot's "Nero Forte." Trying to think if there are any RC albums or artists who repeat a word twice in the name... Meta Meta Etc. and Go Go Diva and Waak Waak ga Min Min by Waak Waak Djungi were the ones I came up with, but what did I miss?

MENTIONS ON THE BLOG: The name of the band makes it difficult to search for on the blog. Mayam's wife Gloria has had a couple Everything Everything picks for MMM though, including one ("MY KZ, UR BF") from this album. I will also say that this Jailbreak review certainly feels like it's referencing this band, but only because the word "everything" is repeated ad nauseam for effect.

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OTHER ALBUMS TO CHECK OUT

LAST WEEK'S ALBUM: School Days by Stanley Clarke, and make sure to check out the reviews if you wanna see what we thought of it!

RC@5: We're relistening to the Record Club album we featured exactly five years ago this week. The RC album for this week in 2020 was This Could Be a Possibility by Valencia.

RC f/u: We're attempting to catch up on all the new albums from our esteemed Record Club alumni. Mini-reviews coming next Saturday, this week for En tid att riva sönder by Annika Norlin and Jonas Teglund and Haven by Marianas Trench.

SHADOW RECORD CLUB: Each week, we're exploring the genres of last week's album. If there is a genre that has a #1-rated album that I've never heard before, I'll download it. If not, I'll just give you my best recommendation. Last week's School Days was a jazz-rock album. We're listening this week to Hot Rats by Frank Zappa. I've never heard it before.

NEXT WEEK'S RC ALBUM: In case you need some extra time with an album to write a review for it, you can get a head start on Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood!

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COUNTDOWN:

69 Weeks Until Week 420

We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. I am happy to announce that during Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. I am also happy to announce that Week 420 of Record Club will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people. 

THIS WEEK: We are 66 weeks away from Week 420.

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Happy listening, RC family!
Have a great week!