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Certain sounds, just like certain fashions, can benefit from being
buried and forgotten about for a period of time. At some point someone
will dig it up and put a spin on it to make it popular or desirable
again. In this case, the style at hand is 90s' indie guitar rock.
Someone leaked a little bit of this time capsule a bit too early,
but no one seems to be complaining. Yuck are a four piece out
of London with a love of everything 1990s. Vocalists/guitarists, Daniel
Blumberg and Max Bloom, have made leaps and bounds from
their previous project, Cajun Dance Party. Their self-titled
album, Yuck, has already been compared to such great names
as Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth, but they are by no
means limited to just ripping off classic indie rock styles. There
is a general heroin-laden alternative appeal layered in most of their
songs you may have found in some of the better albums of the 90s,
but aside from that there is, on a whole, some quality production
and spot on guitar work. The only thing they are missing is a Spike
Jonze video. This album is going to be getting some regular rotation,
but more importantly, their set at Pitchfork 2011 is getting pretty
high up there on the must-see list.
Yuck covers all the bases. Like others have mentioned their sounds
do seem directly influenced by specific 90's indie rocker likes such
as Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. As previously stated, they are by
no means limited to those influences and sounds. Songs like "Suicide
Policeman" sound like someone convinced Dave Bazan to
bail on Pedro The Lion and let Scott Weiland step in.
"Georgia" might be the first real obvious use of female
back-up vocals on the album. The fuzzy vocal duo is complimented by
an almost Broken Social Scene-style production that includes
thick ripping guitar riffs that echo throughout your head and relentless
tambourine work that would make Stevie Nicks' wrist hurt. The
biggest downer on the album would have to be "Suck". Not
to say that it isn't one of the most memorable or impressive tracks
on the album, it actually is. The vocals play around more in a Lou
Reed range while the guitars stick close to their roots, but
also start to sound a little like John Frusciante. There are
two tracks aside from the ones already mentioned that really take
their sound to that certain level that is simultaneously both nostalgic
and brand new. The first being "Holing Out" which would
be considered their balls-to-the-wall rocker. The second and slightly
more epic of the two is the final track "Rubber". Word's
can't really explain the depth, the sludge, or the soul that are found
on this track. "Rubber" is the longest song on the fifty
minute album with just as much impact as the rest of the album but
also displays great power as a closing track, while it leaves you
craving a little bit more.
It's been a long time coming, but we might have solid indie guitar
rock band again. There is plenty of reason to believe that Yuck possesses
the talent to stick around and hopefully really impact some folks
at Pitchfork this year. In the meantime don't be surprised if you
find fellow listeners with a half finished beer lying on their tiled
kitchen floor with this album on.
-brad knain
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