Reviewed by Reggie Katz, edited by Ash
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before reading this review, please support Not From England by streaming the album! The links to the album on all streaming services can be found here. Additionally, please check out Not From England's Linktree page, which contains links to their music videos and some prior reviews of their music!
I WAS INTRODUCED to this LP when Not From England requested that we review it, upon which I fell in love with the sound of the project. I listened to a few of their tracks at first to get a feel of their sound, and I ended up being very intrigued by the sound of the lead vocals (which can’t help but put a smile on your face), and the consistency of the high level production throughout. Their album Guest House is a great example of the California indie-rock sound. It is also a nice reminder of how satisfying it can feel to listen through a whole album in a genre such as this one. Guest House left me feeling eager for more music from Not From England.
"Instigator", the first track on the album, gives a solid preview of the rest of the album’s sound. The kick drum come in at first and then we hear a distorted electric guitar. While not necessarily a musical sound, the unpredictable distorted guitar noises add a lot of texture, which starts to get the listener hooked. The producer of this album is not shy about showcasing their talents right away. The vocal layering, panning, and different EQ’s for the lead vocals and background “oohs” are expertly crafted. Overall, I enjoyed this track. My only criticism would be that the kick drum sits a little too far back in the mix, comparatively to the second track on the album. But overall, this was a great way to introduce us to the rest of the album.
"Something To Do" is the fun and catchy second track. The stronger kick drum and overall sense of rhythm in this track helped provide a sense of stability in the track since most of the other elements are a bit more free-sounding. I found myself jamming out to this track as well. My main criticism this track is the diction of the words. It was hard for me to understand a lot of what the singer was saying, and I was really let down by that since I was reading along with the lyrics of each song. This song is nicely written, so it would’ve been nice to appreciate the lyricism of this track a little more. Other than that, all my feelings towards this track are positive. A very easy song to listen to!
The third track, "Rest Of It", is a nice juxtaposition to its predecessor track. The guitar pedalboard sounds like it was kept pretty bare-bones. The more stripped-down tracks on the album make for consistently beautiful moments that showcase Not From England’s excellent storytelling abilities. This track talks about the trouble of being trapped inside your own head and being unable to do things that you once could do Although the instrumentation in this track is rather stripped down, for me this symbolizes what it feels like to lose your mind. My only criticism of this track is the bridge. It sounded like there was supposed to be a bridge, but it wasn’t different enough from the rest of the song to be a true bridge in my opinion. Regardless of that, this is one of my favorite tracks off of the album, and made for a perfect segue into the title track.
Track four, "Guest House", is an outstanding track. I have no complaints about this track at all. The production and relationship between the bass and the drums creates a very cool push-pool that I could almost feel physically. The idea of this song was interesting as well. It tells the story of how you can lose a best friend if they stop putting in effort into the friendship. This track really resonated with me since I've been in situations that felt like one-sided friendships. The lyricism in this song was very well done and made the song especially relatable. This is one of my favorites off of the album as well.
Track five, "Red Light", keeps the energy of the album going, starting off with a nice groove. This track had some atypical production which I admire since it added a lot of personality to the song. For example, about halfway through the track, some unplugged electric guitars came in. Although the production was very creative, I personally was not a fan of this one. I was unable to understand most of the lyrics, and for me, connecting with the lyrics of a song is what makes a song special. But overall, this track is still well executed, and the production remains very unique.
"Good Morning Thieves", the eye-catching title of the sixth track of the album, is also more stripped down compared to the majority of the music we’ve been hearing. I liked the use of panning and reverb throws in this production, making us like we’re in the studio with them. This was another song about being tired of being stuck in your head. It was a pretty good song and overall a nice track that further explores the album’s themes of feeling trapped.
The seventh track, "Nylon Pipes", shows off angelic pipes and incredible songwriting ability. This song was totally acoustic, and absolutely beautiful. Placing this track in the seventh spot was a great decision in terms of pacing, and made for a perfect break from the more uptempo & heavily produced indie rock songs that led us to this point. I’m always a sucker for acoustic, balled-esque productions since that is the kind of music I grew up listening to, so naturally, I gravitated to this track quite heavily. The little imperfections in the guitar and vocals really added to the authentic feel of the performances as well. I got chills when the backing vocals came in. "Nylon Pipes" is my favorite track off of the album.
Pictured above: A snapshot of the recording process for Guest House.
"Don’t Get Me Wrong", the eighth track on the album, starts off in a very “Mr. Brightside” kind of way: guitar panned hard left, drums panned hard right, and vocals right down the center. We’re back to more of an indie-rock feel again, but the song is nothing too heavy at the beginning. It eases us back into the vibe of the rest of the album will be. The song talks about wanting to die but being too scared to act upon those feelings. I enjoyed this track and I loved the use of the slidey vocals.
"Beach Night" is the experimental ninth track on the album. Not From England once again uses distorted guitar sounds solely for sonic elements, rather than musical elements, and for the most part, it works quite well, but I didn’t love this track for a couple of reasons. The repeating four chord pattern worked, except for the third chord in the pattern. It sounded a little too dissonant for an average listener to enjoy. I also felt like some of the guitar sounds got a little too experimental to fit in the context of the album. But as a standalone track, it is nice to listen to if you are into experimental-sounding guitar. Think of Frank Ocean’s guitar heavy tracks off of Blonde. Overall, I thought it was pretty neat to hear Not From England experiment with sounds and chord progressions that we had not heard before. So even though it wasn’t one of my favorite tracks, I ultimately respect their decision to include it.
"Bluebird" is the tenth track on the album. Some things that stood out to me in this track are the drums and groove. The drummer does a really nice job of showing off their skills while still keeping a really nice groove. I also enjoyed the little cameo at the end of one of the band members' voices. The haunting eleventh track on this album is titled "Jura". The opening lyric “I’m starting to lose my mind” just grabs you; After all of the tension and questioning in the previous tracks, they finally say it out loud, which made for a really powerful moment. It almost sounds like there is a sense of panic in this production, adding to the overall sense of going crazy. It was a nice track to add to the falling action of the album.
The final track on the album, "In Town", is an appropriate track to end the album on. I got a very warm feeling from this final song. The instrumentation almost sounds like something off an Alabama Shakes record. The track provides a sense of completeness, especially because of the repeated lyric, “another day is nothing changed.” This track was pretty enjoyable for me.
Pictured above: Not From England, performing live at the Observatory Main Stage in Orange County, California.
My overall thoughts on Guest House by Not From England are somewhat mixed but mostly positive. While I thought the songwriting was pretty well done, the majority of the tracks ended up sounding very similar as you listened through the album. It is clear by the capabilities of the musicians and producer that they are all very skilled. I hope that on their future releases, they apply their skills some more by adding some more differentiation in each of their tracks. I also was not a huge fan of not being able to understand the lyrics of the song. I understand that part of the indie-rock style is this sort of unclear and distorted vocal, but I felt like sometimes it was overdone, which sometimes took away from my enjoyment of the songs.
On the flipside, though, it’s clear that Not From England has found their sound and are sticking to it. Think of if The Rare Occasions and the Arctic Monkeys had a baby. While songs sounded similar on the album, it may very well be because this band has already found their sound and wanted to adhere to it, and I respect that. Nonetheless, Not From England’s acoustic endeavors on this album were all fantastic; their musical abilities in an acoustic context are definitely not to be underestimated! Another stand out feature of this album is the production, mixing, and mastering of this album. I have pretty much no complaints about the production quality, mixing, or mastering. I think this album's production elements could compete with any mainstream track. This album was a fun listen overall and I look forward to listening to more work from Not From England!
Personal Enjoyment Score: 7 out of 10
Standout Tracks: “Rest Of It,” “Guest House,” “Nylon Pipes,” “In Town”
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