Any psychiatrist will tell you that if you have dreams where your teeth are falling out, it’s because you feel like you are losing control of your life. This sentiment was ubiquitous on The Antlers’ emotionally demanding breakthrough, as the narrator struggled to come to terms with the inevitable loss of a loved one. While “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out” is undoubtedly a Peter Silberman song, it is more upbeat and expansive than anything off of Hospice. The same poignant core remains, but the vigor and instrumental variety that are present are firsts for the band. Undulating melodic shapes overlay a nimble arrangement of mandolin, horns, slanted guitars and glistening electronics, and it’s pulled off with admirable panache.
Unlike the tracks on Hospice, there is no sense of finality to be had here, just pent up emotion. The words “try, try, try” are muttered in repetition during the second verse, which plays like the lyrical expression of banging one’s head against the wall. Each verse starts with hushed vocals that slowly climax into an exasperated wail of the song’s refrain, and the cacophonous conclusion is just the frustration bubbling over to no resolution. It is a statement, not a story. The Antlers are clearly in a very different place than they were two years ago, and even if they still don’t sound particularly happy, they’re still making elegiacally hypnotic music.
