'Taking Everything' 7'' by Tenement

By Jason Duarte
10/28/2011
Toxic Pop Records
Rating: 5/5

Following its debut full length release, Napalm Dream, on Mandible Records, Tenement released the Taking Everything 7'' October 28 via Toxic Pop Records. The songs, "Taking Everything" and "Daylight World," were recorded at the same time as the songs for Napalm Dream, in the spring of 2010 at Howl Street Studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first song, "Taking Everything," is a driving poppy melodic grunge/punk/rock tune about misinterpretation and coming up short and learning a lesson from it. Lead singer/guitarist Amos Pitsch does a real nice job of mixing rhythm and lead guitar together in one, and utilizing feedback as well. His riffs are catchy and not your standard chord progressions. I have to throw the drummer and bass player some props as well - they really carry the song. There's also a part in the song where it's just drums and vocals and it sounds awesome, as does the nifty guitar solo.

Side B features the upbeat tune, "Daylight World;" a song that starts out slow and folky before drums, bass and clarity kicks in. It sounds like a love song.
"When the clock stops, will you catch me in your arms? Today could be the day," Pitsch sings in the chorus.
Pitsch sounds like he's trying to coax a girl out of the house, so they can be outside together and go for walks before the weather gets "cold and dark again." There's an element of a deadline thrown in there, giving it a sort of urgency, but the music remains steady and upbeat yet calm and collected. This 7'' is available from Toxic Pop Records for $5 and comes with a download code with two bonus tracks ("Paper Airplanes" and "Jesse's Poem"), and the digital copy with two extra tracks is available on Tenement's Bandcamp site for $5 as well. Also check out Kevin Toomey's July review of Napalm Dream here.

Pressing Info:
First pressing: 10 test pressings, 10 "blood in the water" red/black/clear transitionals, 100 clear vinyl, 390 black vinyl.

Taking Everything 7'' track listing:
A. "Taking Everything" (2:28)
B. "Daylight World" (2:00)