Band: EATMEWHILEIMHOT!
Album: All My Friends
Genre: Hardcore/Scenecore/Pop Core
Label: Self Released

Tracks:
1. The Two Armed Man
2. Screw The Standard
3. All My Friends
4. When In Rome
5. The Point

If survival is based on staying active, then Christofer Drew is in for the long haul. Earlier this year we brought you coverage on his stunning EP under his acoustic project NeverShoutNever and now we have his side project which carries the even more ridiculous name, EATMEWHILEIMHOT! This is purely a side project of Drew’s and was recorded in only a few days between NSN tours. The EP will be released this December and we at UTG were lucky enough to get our hands on a piping hot, fresh from the studio copy recently. If you love Drew’s swooning high notes, but have a heart for something heavier, then the All My Friends EP may be your next addiction.

In classic dirty hardcore style, the disc begins with no all encompassing intros or build up, but rather a quick fade in of Drew’s vocals and a pounding drum roll. It’s heavy from the get go of, “The Two Armed Man,” and rarely lets up throughout. The song has a heavy “scene” feel with crooning ooo’s and synth layers, but it all just feels wonderfuly raw and from the heart so I didn’t mind. Drew has quite the scream on him, but, as one will gather from mention of literally, “mother freaking lies,” he’s not crossed completely into the world of dirty hard rock.  I noticed instantly that this is one side project that is truly fun, but it’s hard to tell just how serious to take them. The music is fun and the lyrics are solid, btu also corny and ridiculous at the same time. It’s just fun to listen to. As the track ends, “Screw The Standard,” comes in with a very pop punk feel, but then Drew busts out brutal screams before later going into the more crooner sounds NSN provides us. The rest of the band plays solid throughout and it simply makes you want to dance, but it does become apparent that the band seems to have a hard time keeping a solid musical driection.

“All My Friends,” the title track, is simply perfect however and really shows the band locking down on a very focused sound. Drew has near early Tom Delonge feel to himself on the verses and the pre chorus might as well be the chicken pox at a 5 year old birthday party, its that catchy. It’s the classic theme of friends having your back, but knowing the band is just friends having fun gives it a youthful feel and leaves the song as something mor than just and overused theme with no originality. For those of you hoping for more heavy stuff, have no fear as a very A Day To Remember type breakdown closes out the song and fades perfectly into, “When in Rome.” This track, to me, could close the record as it has a lot of the great quaities from the other songs, but just a bit heavier. Drew does manage to fit the line,  “when in Rome, do as the Romans do,” without being overly corny and that’s impressive in its own right. The song passes by as little more than a ver solid song and introduces us to the less impressing and closing track, “The Point.” For the first time on the whole disc, I found myself thinking EMWIH was jsut another NSN variant. It’s meant to be a bit more of a relaxed pop rock jam, but to me, it’s liek they decided to take all their momentum and throw it out the window and opt for a completely left field track. The group does save a little face with an epic breakdown and funny closing moment, but the track still doesn’t sit well now some 25 times through.

Christofer Drew and his gang of friends have crafted something special here. So what if they’re just a side project, EATMEWHILEIMHOT has something that everyone needs to hear. In the world of overproduction on every single release, All My Friends feels raw and fresh. It has the same youthful spirit of Dude Ranch or Blue Skies, Broken Hearts, Next 12 Exits, but with a heavier edge and more grit. It may be a ridiculous release full of utterly preposterous breakdowns and lyrics, but it strikes a chord with the listener that simply cannot be denied.

*Written By: James Shotwell*
Grade: 7.5/10