Lose the drama for one damn night. Learn to enjoy yourself. Life doesn’t have to be an ever-ready emotional roller coaster all the time. Have some fun for once. Throw in Skeletons with Flesh On Them’s debut album All The Other Animals and prepare yourself for good time Seattle pop rock. Of course it wouldn’t be fitting to be entirely positive. Hell, Richard Simmons was bulimic and John Edwards needed a mistress. And they always seemed to be happy and optimistic. Let’s keep it real.

There is no specific theme to All The Other Animals, and there really shouldn’t be one. You can expect vibrant and expansive songs degrading common-ground fears that so many other artists are afraid to face. “Power Cords” dabbles in punk and ska, but mostly in an eat shit hipsters, learn to love mentality that is very necessary these days. Their title track is a Ben Gibbard sings Third Eye Blind sort of adaptation to 2009 rather than 1996, where a band like Skeletons would have been in every teen flick Kevin Smith made in that prolific decade.

Animals is easily one of the best debut full lengths album a band could ever think to make. It also could be an instructional manual for any band looking to break out as far as recordings may be concerned. It is very good, yet you may get the feeling that even this album isn’t the very best these guys could pull off. And that is a very inspiring way to think after hearing such a spectacular record.

All The Other Animals is available now at CD Baby.

Skeletons With Flesh On Them: All The Other Animals [mp3]

Skeletons With Flesh On Them: Power Cords [mp3]

[CD, 2009]

1. Same Moon
2. Ten Times
3. Trail Of Destruction
4. Take Me Down
5. Power Chords
6. Longer Chain
7. Squinting Toward The Light
8. All The Other Animals
9. Not What We’re Designed For
10. Ghosts In The Guestroom
11. Closed System
12. Factory Song
13. Because The Town Is Sleeping