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Welcome to the Armageddon. We hope you enjoy your stay.
Between You & Me have released their sophomore album under Hopeless Records and this one exceeds any expectations. It’s been over a thousand days since their debut album, and if there is one thing you need to know before you hit play, it’s that goosebumps will litter your body as you enter the new era.
The record begins with ‘Pleased To Meet You’, the beginning might as well be the end. Jake Wilson (lead singer), starts the song off with “Pleased to meet you stranger, welcome to the ending.” An ending to what we knew from their EP’s and debut album but also the ending from a worldwide view. As you continue listening, you’ll know that this band is no stranger to calling out injustices to the world. Each song pulls forward the theme of an ending whether it be the world or in interpersonal relationships and it brings us into the second track.
“Deadbeat” is the song that harps on the strain of a relationship. The realization that while pursuing something there will always be the knowledge of what you left behind. The line “I’m just a deadbeat, trash heap living in your backseat” resonates in the metaphorical factor of it being the backseat of someone’s life. Knowing that chasing something that you’ve strived all your life for puts a strain on your loved ones goes into the nod to Wilson’s long-term girlfriend Leah Russell in the third track “Butterflies”.
While this album is elevated by an ending of sorts, “Butterflies” is the sweet melody in the middle of all the bad. “I barely know her, but she starts to give me butterflies/ She loves the planet and everything it hides/ She sees the good in everybody with the blue eyes”. While in Armageddon, you can interpret the “blue eyes” as the evil eye. To symbolize bringing good luck and protecting from any harm/negative effects. An ode to a loved one and using the symbolization of something such as their eye color, whether intentional or not, it slides into the thematic aspect of the record. As we look to the ones in charge and see what they have and most importantly haven’t done, the fourth track embodies the feeling of frustration and bitterness that we feel towards the leaders.
“Change” is the track that becomes the call out to anyone in a leadership position. As read in the Rock Sound article written by Jack Rogers, Wilson stated: “It felt as though our leaders were focused on their capitalist ideals instead of representing the people.” While our world is rapidly being subjected to different forces of nature, our leaders sit back and act as though it is merely another day. As if the days will continue coming and there’s a limited supply when in reality our days are numbered and the path they continue to go on will bring us closer to that expiration date faster than any leader can think of. While one track is a call out to the leaders of the world, another track is a call out to the music industry.
“Goldfish” is the strong fifth track that while would be a phenomenal punch to their own record label, it’s a punch to all the others as well. A miss step in taking care of the bands and artists on their roster and even when signing them is showcased in “You want us to sign for seven years, take all of our fucking money and you’ve given us no good reason for why we should sign. Dude fucking suck my dick”. There is the line between helping someone out and essentially exploiting them to the point where all they have is nothing. This track gives the insight into what it is like to sign with a record label but to also put it into the theme of Armageddon and tying it “Change”, it still has the give until you have nothing left aspect and the take until you’ve run whoever dry of anything they ever had. There will always be a bad guy to every story and in this one we get a glimpse into the narrative of the first-person standpoint being the villain, which brings us to track six.
“Supervillain” was the first single that came off the record and it was one that nobody expected to come from the band that just a mere three years ago was telling Dakota to piss right off. It’s a track of taking the fault and placing the blame on themselves from whatever was said by someone else. The he said, she said is halted and defeat is expected. “I heard that I’m a bad person and you hate it/ But she deserves her own opinion and that’s fine/ So you can drag me all you want now, baby/ Have your 20 seconds in the spotlight.” Although you can try your best to bash them, your spotlight will always dim out and for the moment, you can say whatever you’d like. Which then coincides with the next song which is “Real World”.
“Real World” showcases that whatever is going on there is no drive to care about anything but the bubble you’re in. “Maybe I should care about it one day/ When I lose my goddamn mind” Those two lines encompass this record, the act of not wanting to care anymore because of every issue at hand. The world, the people in it, our own relationships, at times seems as though it’s too much to even think about. To tune it out and say that one day you’ll worry about it but probably won’t is what causes the Armageddon, but you can’t be the only one to care and to strive for a better tomorrow or as track eight is titled “Better Days”
The more hopeful and longer version of ‘I Can’t Help It’, from BYAM’s debut album, makes you want to feel something. It makes you want to get out of the numbing feeling and out of the thought process that nothing is going to change. It gives the hopeful nod in the lines “If you’re listening, hear me when I say/ ‘Don’t let it slip away because it slips away/ It’s your choice to make, to change your bitter ways/ Don’t let it slip away cause you’re missing out on better days.” There is so much turmoil within the world and within our own lives that those words are meant to be yelled at the top of your lungs. It’s the version of hope and want and need and amid all the chaos, it’s the one thing we need to keep ourselves grounded. There is peace and tranquility in being grounded but there is also the urge to tell someone off when needed.
As the only feature on the album includes Mikaila Delgado from ``Yours Truly, “'' Go To Hell” is one that makes you feel every ounce of emotion that an ending could induce. Tying it into the theme of the record, it’s pointing the finger at everyone that has done harm to our world, to our lives and quite possibly onto ourselves and saying go to hell because everything that you’ve done is disheartening. It causes the reaction towards the ending of the record because of the buildup. The story line and pleasantries of “Hello, nice to meet you” to simply “Go to hell” because anything that needs to be said is null and void. It’s a track that gives closure but doesn’t close the door all the way.
Welcome to the ending. The title track “Armageddon” closes the door and makes you lay in the bed that you made. The hurt and bitterness and seething disgust on how things can be treated and handled, the ending is here. The ending is never picture perfect, it’s dingy and torn up and makes you feel and see every ounce of harm and hatred that was done. The track speaks for the record in the sense that we are in the ending. The final chapter of what could have been, of what was, is over. There is no reverse button to take back the years of harm done on our world and the humans that reside in it and now we just must wait and see the clock run out and for Armageddon to become a reality.
Between You & Me is one of the bands that has been pushed around to every extent over the last two years. But they are also a band that is relentless and will go to all ends to make sure they are heard which is how they managed to get over two million streams within their first week. If this is your first-time hearing about this band, make sure it isn’t your last.
All things BYAM can be found on their socials at @BYAMAUS
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