Bleachers- Everyone For Ten Minutes
Label: Dirty Hit
Producer: Jack Antonoff
The fifth studio album from superstar producer Jack Antonoff and his fetching practitioners of modern alt-rock and indie-pop arrives two years after the band’s self-titled effort doubled down on the deep emotional well of Antonoff’s songwriting, while allowing the band’s signature euphoric hooks and mastering of pop-rock’s classic ability to make some of the deepest music sound like the most anthemic drift into the background. Bleachers was nevertheless a solid record in its own right, but it quickly seemed destined to be one of those less-discussed gems in an act’s discography, rather than the infectious and instantly nostalgic cult-classics that their preceding work had been.
Much comfort can be found then in the fact that Everyone For Ten Minutes finds Antonoff and company reprioritizing that impressively smooth emotionally, hook-laden balance and those contagious dichotomies that had made them one of modern rock’s most beloved dark-horses for the past dozen years. The eleven tracks that comprise Ten Minutes form another joyfully dizzying exploration of sound and style, incorporating everything from 90s frat-rock, 60s folk revival, 70s R&B & soul, and cinematic movie-soundtrack flourishes into their boundary-less core of modern alternative, indie-pop and new wave call-backs. Once again intertwined within all of these seductive sonic delights you will find the equally varied and complex lyrical musings of Antonoff himself. For an individual who has spent more than a decade as one of the most in-demand collaborators among mainstream pop’s A-listers, his lyrical musings remain refreshingly quirky, scrappy, and humanly evocative.
Romantically inspired moments like “Sideways” and “You and Forever” manage to be equally cinematic, moody, and wistful, as well as joyously littered with all of the real-life flaws and nuances that define a marriage or relationship, no matter how much we may try to sweep them under the rug in front of others. These moments also continue to tap into one of their most referenced inspirations (especially in the post-Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night-era of their catalog)–Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band–though they feel far more reminiscent of the deeper tracks from that enmemble’s early albums than anything from their 80s heyday. “Take You Out Tonight” is meanwhile far more flirtatious in spirit, recalling peak-Blues Traveler while serving as a wildly entertaining mid-album jam. “I’m Not Joking”, with its addition of harpsichord and a falsetto-bordering vocal from Antonoff, continues the satisfying and surprising sonic exploration. It jubilantly captures a story of love-at-first-sight, with the arrangements expanding toward a perfectly-timed crescendo that mirrors the out-of-body highs and unique euphoria that can only be produced by that first-love feeling.
Relationships beyond the romantic realm also get ample exploration throughout some of the record’s very best tracks. “The Van” is a celebratory origin-story that follows Antonoff from his youth through his path to music stardom, with all of his signature plucky and subversive charms and character sketches making the track both personal to him, but also a universal anthem for plenty of other drifting souls; musicians and otherwise. “We Should Talk” plays as a three-arc reflection on estranged relationships, among them the one with former Fun. bandmate Nate Ruess. It not only serves as an interesting slice of rock lore harkening back to one of the 2010’s most bewildering disappearing acts, but also as a grander and mature soundtrack to those connections that come in and out of our life, and they’re only colored with fond recollections and longing rather than any trace of bitterness or resentment. “Dirty Wedding Dress” however is a much more sardonically sly examination of Antonoff’s relationship with fame. Inspired by the public attention that plagued his wedding day, it’s a pointed and entertaining commentary on celebrity and the foolishness that harnesses the joys of pop culture far too often. The grandiose sounds of “I Can’t Believe You’re Gone” and the jangly Bob Dylan-influenced “She’s From Before”, though vastly different stylistically, both offer their own masterful portraits of grief- from the numb and despondent denial of the former, to the exuberant reawakening of the latter.
All of these varied emotions and life stories fittingly culminate in “Upstairs at Els”, a trippy electro-pop banger that pays tribute to the band’s most fertile creative space- New York City’s Electric Lady Studios. It’s a vibrant symbol of the band’s core identity and offers an infectious connective tissue to the singular spirit that they’ve maintained through all of the personal and creative evolution that accompanied and formed the identity of their first five albums, with Zem Audu’s smooth sax stylings prominently reaffirming its reliable band heartbeat. It serves as an ultra-fitting finale to Everyone for Ten Minutes, arguably their loosest, and most naturally free-flowing record since their debut. This album is simple but deep all the same; inviting, soulful, and as durably memorable as anything they’ve created to date. It hits all the prominent Bleachers sweet-spots sonically and topically. It taps into the human experience with conviction, but still goes down so satisfyingly smooth like all of the very best pop-rock records, making it tailor-made for repeat plays and long-term resonance.
Track Listing:
- “Sideways” (Jack Antonoff)
- “The Van” (Antonoff, Mike Freedom Hart, John Freeman, Vinnie Barrett, Bobby Eli)
- “We Should Talk” (Antonoff, Hart, Zem Audu, Evan Smith, Sean Hutchinson, Michael Riddleberger)
- “You and Forever” (Antonoff)
- “Dirty Wedding Dress” (Antonoff)
- “Take You Out Tonight” (Antonoff, Hart)
- “I Can’t Believe You’re Gone” (Antonoff)
- “Dancing” (Antonoff)
- “She’s From Before” (Antonoff)
- “I’m Not Joking” (Antonoff, Hart, Audu, Smith, Hutchinson, Riddleberger)
- “Upstairs at Els” (Antonoff)
The 706 
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