B-Side Guys

Eight months after its release, Explode the TV’s “Everything Points to You” continues to reveal new dimensions with each listen. The track doesn’t merely progress through its runtime—it constructs spaces for the listener to inhabit, each section architected with distinct emotional purpose.

The opening establishes immediate tension through interlocking jangled guitar figures that simultaneously evoke Manchester’s rain-soaked rooftops and California’s sunset boulevards. This calculated geographic ambiguity serves the lyrical conceit perfectly—a meditation on orientation when all familiar landmarks have vanished. The rhythm section deserves particular attention here; the bass doesn’t merely support but actively counterpoints the guitars, creating forward momentum that propels listeners toward the inevitable revelation.

At 0:51, the arrangement expands dramatically into a pre-chorus that owes spiritual kinship to early U2 without falling into pastiche. Here, Explode the TV demonstrates their scholarly understanding of post-punk’s emotional palette—using reverb not as an effect but as narrative device. The spatial qualities expand precisely when the lyrics explore disorientation, creating a paradoxical moment where sonic expansiveness mirrors internal contraction.

When the chorus finally arrives at 1:07, the payoff justifies every second of buildup. What distinguishes this band from countless angular guitar outfits is their unabashed embrace of catharsis. In an era where emotional restraint often passes for sophistication, there’s something revolutionary about a band willing to let the chorus soar without ironic distance or self-conscious restraint.

The track’s DNA contains clear markers of its influences—Echo and the Bunnymen’s atmospheric urgency, The Cure’s textural melancholy, and the stadium-sized emotional gestures of Britpop—yet these elements function as vocabulary rather than template. More interesting is how they’ve incorporated the confrontational dynamics of contemporary post-punk acts like IDLES and Murder Capital into what might otherwise be nostalgic revivalism.

The climactic final section represents the band at their most confident, allowing instrumental elements to build upon each other until the accumulated emotional weight becomes nearly physical. Here, the production choices deserve recognition—allowing enough breathing room for each instrumental voice while maintaining the cohesive wall of sound that gives the resolution its cathartic power.

“Everything Points to You” ultimately succeeds because it understands that being lost and being found are not opposites but sequential states in the same emotional journey. Explode the TV has created a sonic compass that doesn’t just point north—it reminds us why direction matters in the first place.