Is "Everything's Good, Everything's Fine" by Birds With Arms Just One Big Paradox?

Contrary to popular belief, not everything is good and not everything is fine – at least, that’s what you’d deduce after listening to this EP. Get ready for fast-paced, melancholic tunes that will either make you feel your feelings or pity, if ever nothing about this record is applicable to you.

Through colorful riffs and fill-ins, symbolisms, and blunt questions about worth, “Everything’s Good, Everything’s Fine” is clearly relatable to a specific audience, all the while holding the door open for the general public.

Birds With Arms is a band from Seattle, Washington, who often describe their music as “anime intros to stage dive to”. Well, they’re not wrong. They’re the new kid on the block, only having released a single titled “Let Me Go” prior to their debut EP, which is a pretty solid start.

“Disappear”, the first track, is able to capture huge memories and feelings through bite-sized verses. If anything were to describe this song, it’d be a ‘bittersweet reminiscence’, as it describes and looks back at something or someone from the past. For new listeners, they’d get to see the band in action and how great the dynamics and vocals are.

Serving as a sort of continuation, “Gregonomics” offers the same feel-good, signature energetic, animative vibe. The way it’s all hyper and upbeat makes it a great contender for action scenes and the like (the riff helps a lot with the formation of that idea). If you think about it, the words resemble one long sentence spoken without taking a breath, an endearing part about this record.

“Real Armstrong” is an interesting one, piquing your curiosity all throughout, especially during the chorus: “My lover’s fair, he’s just an astronaut”, followed by clear warning signs and red flags in a relationship setting that’s seemingly being defended. If Birds With Arms were to get interviewed, they should be praised and questioned about this song.

Starting off more mellow than the previous tracks, “Fireworks” expresses numbness, and a mixture of every negative feeling to exist. This sounds like a person who yearns and loves more than average, as the lines “Caught in between / Accepting what I am / And always wanting more” is something that would come out from them.

Lastly, “Matching Tattoos” makes you assume that it contains closure, but no; frustrations and constant longing are still present (“You’re the only one who still means anything” is just devastating), really giving off the vibe that they hold on to the fact that they were treated, regardless of how.

It’s safe to say that these songs revolve around one prominent topic, narrated in different phases and emotions in diverse intensities. Somehow, the sound resembles bands like Good Kid, focusing on complex riffs, and the line between indie rock and j-rock influences. If you feel this is something you’re into, then by all means, start listening!