Composed of members of Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks, The Dead 60s, and The Howling Bells, Everyone Says Hi has come together to release an anthemic debut that feels like catching up with an old friend at the bar.

While waiting for the bus in middle school, I’d sift through MTV and VH1’s morning music video blocks. Sandwiched between artists like Rihanna and Daughtry, “Ruby” by Kaiser Chiefs came on, and I was entranced. It’s the closest I’ll come to knowing how kids who saw The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show felt. They sounded and looked unlike anything else that was coming out. They were hook-heavy, synth-laden, and lacked the stench of toxic masculinity that all the other rock bands being featured at the time reeked of. A few albums later, their drummer, not-so-background vocalist, and head songwriter Nick Hodgson eventually left the group. Now for the first time in over a decade Nick is back with a new group, Everyone Says Hi. 

Even though Hodgson has had a successful solo album and written songs for other artists that have done incredibly well, I couldn’t help but feel excited to hear he’s returning to the band format as a frontman. With his new bandmates consisting of members of The Dead 60s, The Kooks, and The Howling Bells, the group is an absolute powerhouse.

Their debut single “Brain Freeze” cemented the hype that began to form around them. The song begins sounding like the younger brother of The Smiths’ “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” but it quickly takes on a more anthemic character. It’s an absolute banger. The band’s momentum kept going as an instrumental version of their second single, “Only One” was even featured during the 2024 Olympics. 

Hodgson’s lyrics bounce between playful topics like his distaste for fortune cookies (which I’m 98% sure is a metaphor) to more serious topics like questioning personal fulfillment, but it juggles all of this within a single song. “I Wish I Was In New York City” shines as a wistful rainy day memoir. It’s a standout track for me not only for the lyrical content, but because of its winding instrumentation that features echoed synthesizers and modulated guitars popping in and out periodically.

I’m a sucker for a track that can effectively depart from the style of an album while still adding to it, and “Did I Just Fall In Love” is the perfect capstone to the group’s debut. It’s a reverb drenched Beach Boys-esque ballad that champions a '60s surf vibe. The harmony driven track combines a few different aspects of vintage production to help the song feel like both a throwback and a fresh concoction. This type of experimentation is exactly what I hope to hear more of from Everyone Says Hi on future releases (and I’m definitely hoping for future releases). 

My litmus test for a good pop song is simple: The music should be catchy and memorable while the lyrics should have some cleverness to them. Everybody Says Hi embodies both of these criteria and takes them to a new level. Their debut album feels like catching up with an old friend at the bar. Laughing and shouting as stories of the good old days are recounted and regaled with a renewed ambition. When the group is at their highest dynamic it feels like their sweetest moments. 

With nothing to prove and everything to gain, ESH have carved out a brilliant album with some of the sharpest shooters of the 2000's music scene. This self-titled debut makes for an inviting listen from a group that makes a song feel like home. 

Be sure to follow Everybody Says Hi on Instagram. Stream their self-titled album everywhere January 31.