Daylight's for the Birds Issue #30

Trouble Everywhere (Bellhop Music)

By Angie Vo
Published: December 1st, 2006 | 12:00am

Trouble Everywhere is a surprising album for the accomplished indie popsters that comprise Daylight’s for the Birds. On!Air!Library! veteran Phillip Wann (vocals, keys, and guitars),  guitarist Jay Giampietro, drummer Brad Conroy (formerly of the Boggs), and vocalist Amanda Garrett combine their personal and professional upheavals of late 2005/early 2006 for a promising debut filled with wonderfully choreographed sadness.  

Garrett’s clear and dreamy soprano cuts through the multifaceted pop layers of drum, keys, guitar, and bass, bringing Daylight’s hook-laden and downright catchy lyrics straight to its audience’s subconscious. Lines like “We belong to no one” and “Will you sleep tonight?” from tracks “To No One!!” and “Worlds Away” resonate with a truthfulness that lacks in most sing-along pop. Though the album’s subject matter is bleak, it doesn’t take away from the strength of the musicianship. 

Other album standouts include “Flicker,” “Try,” and “Trouble Everywhere.” In the title track, Wann and Garrett’s voices are delicately intertwined with spare keyboard and fuzziness that gives the song an atmospheric, epic feel. In album closer “Everybody in the Pool,” Garrett soothes, saying, “Everything will be just fine in time.” In Daylight’s for the Birds’ case, this proves true: Trouble Everywhere, an album that worked out the emotions of ending relationships, has shaped up to be a grand new beginning.