Eggs on Mars’ fourth full-length release “It Will Be Like It Was” feels like a soft and gentle reflection of days gone by. Imagine flipping through your old photo albums (you do still have those do you?) and looking at the people and places that have contributed to your life. The Kansas indie pop trio of Brad Smith (guitars), Justin Longmeyer (bass) and Mason Potter (drums) shares with us intimate moments expressed in nostalgic surf rock tunes, musings of old love, and distant memories that we can lay back and listen to at the comfort of our warm beds.
“Porch tune” embodies this well. As the guitars drench us in a surreal melodic riff, Smith sings about times that were “Once bright but now faded”, with each note carrying a veneer of nostalgia. “Your Name” is a sweet serenade. The chorus “No other name will I sing / Just yours alone” is a perfect tune to blast on your boombox while holding it up in someone’s front lawn. “People pleasing” is what happens when surf rock meets zen wisdom. The lyrics center around being yourself and not trying to seek anybody’s approval. Smith wittingly drops us with the nugget “They’ll tell you it’s treason / But really it’s freedom”.
Keep yourself strapped in tight for “Spacey Stacy II”. A bright standout that could have been written by an astronaut. The psychedelic arrangement takes us to a world of nebula dust and supernova glitter that coalesces in a breakdown of otherworldly instruments.
This is sharply followed by the gloom of “Sometimes Sunday Evening”. The guitars wail on the key of blue, and the vocals transcend to another level of laid-back gray. No other song has ever captured that feeling of “oh-no-the-weekend-is-gone” as well as this.
“I Can’t Always be The Sunshine” is a heartfelt admission of one’s imperfection. Smith bears his heart along with his scars in this song as he sings “Everything’s not perfect all the time” and neatly wraps it up with the resolution “And somehow we’ll figure it out”.
The title track of the album is a refreshing dessert to the 10 track course. After all the faded memories of the past songs, we are delighted to a fun and lighthearted sendoff that tells us “It will be like it was / except better”. A hopeful view of the future that celebrates a newly wedded couple starting out their new life. The guitars are a treat, it just melts in your mouth.
While other indie pop bands of the same flavor are focused on just chillin’ and having a good time, Eggs On Mars manages to infuse it with a little more nuance. The emotional snapshots collected in this album forms a collage of loneliness and nostalgia with bright colors sprinkled sparsely to great effect. Just like it’s abstract album cover, “It Will Be Like It Was” is a field of blue interlaced with yellow highlights, representing the depth and charm of this highly enjoyable LP.