The Henry Clay People – Twenty-Five For the Rest of Our Lives

Those Who Know Better

Los Angeles rockers The Henry Clay People do a little looking back and reflecting on their fourth studio album, Twenty-five For the Rest of Our Lives. The band finds the right mixture between rock songs and bouncy anthems and prove that any bar would let them play on their stage.

After a 30-second intro called “Intro – Bob’s Memoirs,” the album opens with the first track, “25 for the Rest of Our Lives,” where singer/songwriter Joey Siara  gets right to it describing “the short days and the long nights” of  the past with as much truth as he could muster, “We had one too many conversations / But they were just a waste of time / With nothin’ on our mind.”

In “EveryBandWeEverLoved” the band’s years of playing and partying are chalked up as “Learnin’ to drink for free,” while  “Living Rooms” paints a picture of living in living rooms alone and covered in dust.

“The Back Seat of a Cab” is an awkward song. It’s upbeat but still leaves you feeling kind of bummed out and ends with a mysterious old-sounding recording. That’s the general feeling throughout the entire album. It’s a letting-go-and-coming-to-terms-with album disguised with catchy lyrics and guitar riffs.

Twenty-Five represents a great move from The Henry Clay People. They realize that while maybe the idea of party time lasting forever sounds great, it tends to feel wasted, monotonous and boring too. By combining their differences with growing up and reflecting on the past, THCP manage to produce a solid, truthful record. And they’re still doing what they set out to do in the first place, play music.