The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • TOTD
  • Books + Movies
  • Scene Unseen
  • About
  • MORE
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • TOTD
  • Books + Movies
  • Scene Unseen
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • TOTD
    • Books + Movies
    • Scene Unseen
    • About
Album Reviews
392
Editor Pick
previous article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MACHINISTA - GARMONBOZIA
next article
Spill Artist Portrait by Daniel Adams: How To Dress Well

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: YUKON BLONDE – ON BLONDE

Yukon Blonde
On Blonde
Dine Alone Records
RATING

Once again brandishing their energetic brand of indie rock, Yukon Blonde take a head-first dive into a synth-infested ocean on their follow up to 2012’s Tiger Talk. On Blonde has all the glitz and energy of your typical Yukon Blonde effort, powered by occasional handclaps and demanding bass lines. The difference this time is that darker, electronic mumblings haunt some of these pop melodies. Whether this suppresses the record’s potential or not is difficult to say.

When opener, “Confused”, ignites a hum similar to that of an 80s workout video, Blonde shows they’re wasting no time explaining their metamorphosis. It goes on like this for the entire first half of the record, where lead singles and undoubted standout tracks “Como” and “Saturday Night” only serve to uplift the groove. The latter of the two is likely the most important Canadian effort to hit alternative radio this year. With its undying energy, “Saturday Night”, is the record’s centerpiece in establishing an evolution of sound, which has only helped Yukon Blonde become more visible among the many Canadian artists attempting to close in on mainstream airwaves. Without compromising their identity, the band plays on and on over much more complex sounds than in their previous efforts. They stay true to themselves mostly through their lyrical content, even mocking Rihanna at one point on “Favourite People”, saying she “sings of diamonds and how brightly they shine, all I see is pressurized carbon that knows the stress of time”. And it’s perfect, since Yukon Blonde is attaining more success with On Blonde despite their clear differences of opinion with the popular poster children of misdirected, synth-heavy Top 40 pop music.

Where the record fails to achieve much is on some of its second half. Tracks like “Hannah” and “Starvation” play in different lights, but don’t reach far enough into their differences to really contribute much to the overall picture. Attempts to sound darker are only squandered by Yukon Blonde’s necessary playfulness, a piece of their identity that needs more molding before attempting a harder hit.
Standing at ten tracks, On Blonde, is a short record indeed. This emphasizes each not-so-great track, making them seem a larger problem than need be. Regardless, the big successes cast a shadow over their lowly counterparts, and provide the record with the fortitude it needs to earn the title: ‘solid’. Where they go next is entirely up to them, but “Saturday Night” and the rest of On Blonde are indications that Yukon Blonde have more tricks up their sleeve than one would initially have guessed.

– Robert Defina

Label Website: dinealonerecords.com

Band Links:

band websitefbTwitter-iconinstagram-iconsoundcloud iconspotify

Editor Pick
Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: YUKON BLONDE – ON BLONDE

Author

Robert Defina

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
—
8.0
Total Spill Rating
—
Total Fan Rating
You have rated this
Album Reviews
album reviewscomodine alone recordsfavourite peopleon blondesaturday nightyukon blonde
album reviews, como, dine alone records, favourite people, on blonde, saturday night, yukon blonde
About the Author
Robert Defina
Avatar
Robert Defina is an avid critic both on paper and in person. He spends more time writing album reviews than he does worrying about his future. He hopes that this sort of procrastination never grows old.
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviewsdine alone recordson blonde
 
10
NOFX
9.9

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NOFX – SINGLE ALBUM

by Jake Collier on February 26, 2021
NOFX Single Album Fat Wreck Chords NOFX is still around 40 years since their early beginnings, and what is there left to do when the rest of their era’s punk bands have fallen or sold out? Well, [...]
 
8.0
Lydia Luce

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LYDIA LUCE – DARK RIVER

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on February 26, 2021
Lydia Luce Dark River Independent Nashville is changing. No, it isn’t the quality of musicianship. Whether you like it or not, the Nashville sound is one of the best around. It is the [...]
 
9.0
Strawbs
8.2

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STRAWBS – SETTLEMENT

by Aaron Badgley on February 26, 2021
Strawbs Settlement Cherry Red Records The Strawbs released their self-titled debut in 1969, their first official album. This is their 27th release, and their second with this particular lineup. [...]
 
8.0
Sloping

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SLOPING – COMPLETED SONGS

by Dan Kennard on February 26, 2021
Sloping Completed Songs sound as language Lead songwriter of the band Scooterbabe, JJ Posway, has released a debut solo album under the name Sloping. It is called Completed Songs, and it is [...]
 
10
cEvin Key
10

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: cEvin Key AND THE SUBCONSCIOUS ELECTRONIC ORCHESTRA – RESONANCE

by Kathy Nichols on February 19, 2021
cEvin Key And The Subconscious Electronic Orchestra Resonance Artoffact cEvin Key’s fifth solo album, Resonance (formerly [...]
Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NOFX – SINGLE ALBUM
10
9.9
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LYDIA LUCE – DARK RIVER
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STRAWBS – SETTLEMENT
9.0
8.2
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SLOPING – COMPLETED SONGS
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: cEvin Key AND THE SUBCONSCIOUS ELECTRONIC ORCHE...
10
10
Latest Live Reviews
View All
 
Lord Huron

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 2 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)

by Robert Defina on February 18, 2021
74
 
Small Town Titans

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: SMALL TOWN TITANS @ SMT HQ, YORK (PA)

by Gerrod Harris on February 6, 2021
33
 
Lord Huron

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 1 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)

by Robert Defina on January 7, 2021
394
 
Wardruna

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: WARDRUNA – ‘KVITRAVN’ PRESENTATION (ONLINE PERFORMANCE)

by Samantha Wu on December 10, 2020
197
 
Evanescence

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: EVANESCENCE @ ROCK FALCON STUDIO, NASHVILLE (TN)

by Melinda Welsh on December 5, 2020
61
Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Spill Magazine Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2020 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
673
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY III
578
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GUIDED BY VOICES – STYLES WE PAID FOR
557
 
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: CHURCH OF TREES FEAT. CAROLE POPE – “WORLD’S A BITCH”
462
 
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 1 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)
394
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BLACK PISTOL FIRE – LOOK ALIVE
368
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS – LIVE IN BOSTON, 1982: THE COMPLETE CONCERT
350
 
SPILL NEW MUSIC: “SHAMELESS” STAR WILLIAM H. MACY RELEASES DEBUT SINGLE “WHISKEY DELL” UNDER “WILLIE CREEKS” MONIKER
329
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DIRTY NIL – FUCK ART
282
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHRIS CORNELL – NO ONE SINGS LIKE YOU ANYMORE
277
 
SPILL FEATURE: TRULY ORCHESTRATING HIS OWN LIFE – A CONVERSATION WITH RICK SPRINGFIELD
274
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GRIEVOUS ANGELS – SUMMER BEFORE THE STORM
269
 
SPILL FEATURE: HIS STORY RIGHT NOW – A CONVERSATION WITH cEvin Key
263
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES