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(04/01/14 2:11am)
Released 2/4/2014
7/7 Stars
Bombay Bicycle Club's most recent record So Long, See You Tomorrow is arguably the group's most critically successful effort to date, topping both the UK Album and US Heatseekers Albums charts, along with being the London quartet's first US charter on this side of the pond. Backed by the powerful first single "Carry Me," Bombay accesses an electronica gold mine that carries consistently through this 10-track masterpiece.
So Long heavily utilizes drone-like samples and loops along with influences from Middle Eastern drumbeats, most notably heard on late album track "Feel," likely inspired by the album's composition during songwriter and frontman Jack Steadman's excursion through countries like India and Turkey. The band also brings back a technique heard on previous albums with the syncing of instrument and vocal melodies, specifically with Steadman's vocal take smoothly coinciding with the piano riff during the hook of "Whenever, Wherever" and the rhythmic hand-holding between the vocals and smashed drum beats by Suren de Saram heard on "Luna."
The rhythmic togetherness of this body of work is the stand out point; there are no ripping guitar solos or screaming, over-the-top vocal showcases. It instead shines as a cohesive unit, strongly driven by vocal layers, de Saram's drum performance, and bass tracking done by Steadman, Jamie MacColl and Ed Nash. And while on the topic of cohesiveness, let's point out the impeccable flow of So Long, with the aforementioned loops and samples providing a building surface to create each subsequent song. This is not an album for you to start in the middle; each listen requires the near-45 minute commitment to hear the entire collection of songs not only because you have to, but also because you'll want to.
Piggy backing on their 2010 "Best New Band" win at the NME Awards over bands like The XX and indie rock powerhouse Mumford & Sons, Bombay Bicycle Club had big shoes to fill (including those of former winners like Arctic Monkeys and MGMT). The occasion was willingly risen to, with the band releasing possibly their most successful and most creative effort to date. So Long, See You Tomorrow solidifies this group into "must hear" territory, with one of the most well-composed and well put together records to hit shelves in a long, long time.
(03/31/14 6:13am)
This past "Spring Break" many college students were spending their time soaking up the rays down south. But on North Racine Avenue in Chicago, Young the Giant was working on heating up the sub-freezing city that has faced one of its worst winters in years.
The California powerhouse was hitting Chicago for their first time on their Mind Over Matter Tour (with the second to come this summer at Lollapalooza), and wasted no time showing the crowd that they didn't need warmth or beaches to have a memorable week off. Padded by the astounding performance from opener Vance Joy, the group clawed through the majority of their newest record with brute force, only stopping long enough to play the solemn new album tracks "Firelight" and "Camera", along with Young The Giant track "Strings".
Frontman Sameer Gadhia was in premiere form, hitting all of the high notes heard on the band's last two albums, while instinctively adding in some of his own for emphasis. He even managed to nail the R. Kelly vocal take for the crowd-pleasing "Ignition (Remix)" cover that's been forgotten from the band's set since June 2012. Donning fur coats, sunglasses, and even a Yoda wig/hat, the group laughed off the opening to their encore as Gadhia shyly stated "We're going to play some of our own songs now." He didn't lie, as the band went on to pound out three final tracks, including the Mind Over Matter title track and "My Body" to close out the set.
Young the Giant is a band that consistently receives praise for their live performance, and the group is also notably fond of playing shows in The Windy City. That of course does not make any promises, but it spawns a pretty solid formula to ensure a fantastic concert. This time, the band delivered by providing even more energy than you hear from the studio albums they produce. Everyone in that room, with the California guys on stage included, did not get to spend their Spring Break 2014 in the warmth, but there's no mistaking that Chicago was where the good times were being had.
(03/13/14 4:11am)
Released 1/21/2014
6/7 Stars
Young the Giant was able to grasp the hearts of both the "too cool" teenage population and their mothers with their self-titled, 2010 debut featuring colossal radio hits like "Cough Syrup" and "My Body." The rest of the album boasted an only somewhat similar, hyped up beach rock sound that helped them claim their spot in festival stardom for the three years to follow. They took the hint, and kicked out an album that is dense with both dance beats and instruments to face the superstition of the sophomore album slump head-on.
The album's lead single "It's About Time" catapulted YTG back into the forefront of indie rock and posed the illusion of a stylistic change for the group, with more guitar distortion and heavier drums than we've ever heard from them. After the next single "Crystallized" hit the masses, it was made apparent that both the composition and production of this album was no laughing matter. The singles, along with title track "Mind Over Matter," all create a new direction for the band that is cut from the same template; the harmonies and unique guitar melodies from their debut were not replaced, but instead padded by the addition of extra keyboards, synthesizers, and a more center-stage presentation of frontman Sameer Gadhia's continuously strong vocal performances.
Mind Over Matter is a unique album in the fact that it isn't a collection of songs. It actually sounds like one body of work, constructed as one dynamic spectacle to flow through one song to the next without noticeable breaks. It begins with the 48 second opener "Slow Dive" morphing into the opening strums of "Anagram", and continues on as the somber focal-points "Firelight" and "Camera" break through the momentum as a soft breath of air between all of the dancing this album is destined to make you do.
Young the Giant's maturity as a band was bound to improve after their almost four-year stint on the road as they headed into the studio for their second effort. These experiences shape bands differently as history as shown, but these guys took their careers to the next level with this album. Gadhia no longer wails and screams; it has morphed into wooing and full-on belting, putting maximum emphasis on how simply fun this album came to be. Any fame or fortune garnered from the band's debut was put to use in the most appropriate way possible: to turn around and make a newer and better album the next time around. Young the Giant has indicated yet again that they deserve the spotlight, and you're darn right that they have taken it.