page_title: Everynight Fire Works
section_title: Composition
hierarchical_section_title: Everynight Fire Works / Composition
caption_attribution_description: Indie rock group Jets to Brazil performing at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, on April 29, 2001
context_page_description: Everynight Fire Works is the debut album by American rock band Hey Mercedes. Following the demise of Braid, most of the members formed Hey Mercedes, with guitarist Mark Dawursk joining in early 2000. The band released a self-titled EP through Polyvinyl Record Co., before signing to Vagrant Records at the end of the year. They recorded their debut with Burning Airlines member J. Robbins at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota in April 2001. Everynight Fire Works is an alternative rock, emo, indie rock and pop punk record that drew comparisons to Burning Airlines, Jets to Brazil, and Shudder to Think.
  Everynight Fire Works was announced for release shortly after recording, but was delayed a few times distribution troubles or legal issues that Vagrant was having. It was eventually released on October 23, where it was met with a mixed-to-positive reaction from music critics, with some commenting on the group's maturity and guitar work, as well as Nanna's vocals. Sometime after release, Dawursk left the band and was replaced with Michael Shumaker, and drummer Damon Atkinson spent some time touring with Saves the Day.
context_section_description: Musically, the sound of Everynight Fire Works has been described as alternative rock, emo, indie rock and pop punk, with elements of 1980s pop, drawing comparisons to Burning Airlines, Jets to Brazil, and Shudder to Think. Nanna explained that the title referred to "'working' ever night. ... It’s about every night, non-stop, work work work." Atkinson theorised they had spent around a year writing for the record, breaking occasionally to perform shows. The main reason for the length of time was the band wishing to move away from the angular guitar work of Braid and into a sound of their own. Robbins and Christine Lubarsky contributed extra vocals and percussion to the recordings. The album's lyrics were compared to those by Jets to Brazil.
  The opening track "The Frowning of a Lifetime" displays the guitar interplay between Nanna and Dawursk. "Every Turn" sees Nanna use his vocals in a way that recalled Braid. "A-List Actress" is about turning one's life into a movie, including drama and romance. Throughout the track, the timing shifted between three-and-four beats per measure. "The Slightest Idea" showcases Nanna's vocal ability, opening with a single-note guitar part. The pop track "Eleven to Your Seven" is done in the vein of Cheap Trick. It was written during a period of frustration for Nanna between the break up of Braid and the formation of Hey Mercedes. It talks about dealing with being unlucky; the numbers refer to a competitive score.
  "Que Shiraz" is a power ballad; the breakdown features Bell and Atkinson's instruments synching up, with the latter playing 16th notes on his hi-hat and the former playing sparse bass notes that synch with the kick drum. Nanna said this part was influenced by Jimmy Eat World. During the mixing stage, they found one note Nanna sung was out of key, and fixed it with Auto-Tune. The intro to "Our Weekend Starts on Wednesday" starts in the 6/4 time signature; the song incorporates punk rock and thrash metal influences. "What You're Up Against" talks about frustration and working. The closing track "Let's Go Blue" was reminiscent of "Never Surrender" by Corey Hart. It sees a guitar riff being played over a larger chord progression with bass and drum breakdowns, which Nanna said Dawursk or bassist Todd Bell came up with.
caption: The music and lyrics of Everynight Fire Works earned the band a comparison to Jets to Brazil.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E880", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "E880v1.0", "Image DateTime": "0000:00:00 00:00:00", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "284", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4084", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4982", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "0000:00:00 00:00:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "0000:00:00 00:00:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "7/2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "8", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "886", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}