Everything Happens For The First Time

Eli Mardock marks his return to Paper Garden Records with the release of Everything Happens For The First Time, his debut solo LP.  The Mid-westerner who rose to notoriety as the lead singer for Eagle Seagull now takes aim at blazing his own path in the industry with songs he wrote while his former band was in major label limbo.  Mardock’s signature dream-like music is represented in Everything Happens For The First Time, but eccentricities spoil some of the fun.

Mardock embraces his typical serene and blissful sound in the opening track "Everything Happens For The First Time" complete with flamboyant keyboards.  Carrie Butler, ex-bandmate from Eagle Seagull and Mardock's current wife, lends her vocals for a duet on "Algebra And The Moon."  The standout song featuring an interesting dance beat was ironically written by Mardock for Butler before they even began dating.  Husband and wife join forces again on "If You're With Me, Then You're Against Me," which has a distinct '80's New Wave sound fans of the era will love.  The carefully stripped down "King Of The Crickets" impresses with a simple beat and memorable piano notes that will echo in your head long after the music has ceased.

The previously mentioned eccentricities come in the form of three particular songs on Everything Happens For The First Time that take up a bloated 21 minutes of album time.  “Theologians Tell Me” quickly becomes stale with repetitiveness while “Children Of The World’s New Uterus” is just plain weird.  Coming from an artist who took his album title from a poem by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, this sort of stuff doesn’t really come as a shock.  The last of this group of songs is “The Way Of The Future” which, appropriately enough, has a futuristic vibe and ends in a fit of static.  Everything Happens For The First Time has some good moments (most of them duets with Carrie Butler), but the trio of seven minute tracks obliterates any positive momentum.