image courtesy of Skye Media

Single Review of Sister Hazel – “All Goes By So Fast” (Rock Ridge Music)

“All Goes By So Fast” was an August 2024 single released by Sister Hazel in advance of the band’s 13th studio album, Sand, Sea & Crash Debris, which dropped in November. Now, I haven’t yet heard the album, but I’ve heard this very cool song, “All Goes By So Fast,” quite a lot; of course, I’ve also heard “Coconut Trees,” which was released as a single shortly before I reviewed it back in 2023. Let’s just say that “All Goes By So Fast” is not particularly similar to “Coconut Trees” other than both being catchy songs performed by Sister Hazel.

“All Goes By So Fast” is an old-school pop-rock song the likes of which you might have heard on Semisonic’s Feeling Strangely Fine back in the late ’90s. At the same time, there’s a nostalgic thread that runs through this song that’s most often found in country music. (No, I’m not comparing this to country music, except for the theme.)

Funky synthwork and a crunchy, punchy guitar line combine with slappy, rhythmic drumming to provide a hypnotically catchy, engaging – almost overwhelmingly so – music bed. Combine that with a dramatic power-pop chorus, confessional straight-shooter style, and nostalgic nearly-spoken bridges, and you have a veritable Pavlovian sugar trap of a song. And it works, somehow remaining fresh and enjoyable even after several consecutive listens, like I’m doing right now while writing this review, even after dozens of previous listens as part of a playlist.

In any case, this song is a fun mainstream rock romp (with major pop tendencies), well-deserving of a little playlist love.