Yuck
Stranger Things
MamΓ© Records
Breaking up is hard to do.
After the success of Yuckβs eponymous first record in 2011, founding member Daniel Blumberg left the band, leaving the young English quartet stripped of their leader and their momentum. Seeing no other option, the band trucked on, and wrote, recorded and toured behind their second album, Glow and Behold followed by their Southern Skies EP. Both Glow and Behold and Southern Skies illustrated a band going through some growing pains: reassigning roles, adding a new member and discovering a new dynamic within the band.
While those releases served as a cast allowing the band to regroup, Yuckβs third full length, Stranger Things, shows a once broken bone now completely healed and calcified as a stronger, confident unit.
Album opener βHold Me Closerβ wastes no time making an impression and bears a striking resemblance to Built To Spillβs βCarβ with vocalist Max Bloomβs fuzzed out howl standing in for Doug Martschβs fragile, heartfelt squeak. More importantly, the guitars are easily just as anthemic as they were back in 2011 on βGet Away.β
The band maintains the momentum of βHold Me Closerβ with the punky βCannonball.β
βCannonballβ is another example of Yuck doing what Yuck does best β Blumberg or no Blumberg β taking the best parts of their favourite β90s indie rock bands and tactfully slapping them together. In this experiment, guitarist Edward Hayes and drummer Jonathan Rogoff blend Jay Mascisβ ripping leads over Steve Shelleyβs relentless tom work with remarkable results.
Stranger Things is a fun, lighthearted record, with some hopeful, cathartic lyrics.
βIβm OKβ is a catchy little waltz about Bloomβs struggles with anxiety, that crescendos into a lush coda that could give hope to any jilted Weezer fan.
The record was written and recorded slowly and inexpensively at both the bandβs London rehearsal space and Bloomβs bedroom β where they tracked the songs on their first release. And some of their old trademarks are back: slouchy guitars that sink from one note to another populate the albumβs gentler standout tracks like βLike a Mothβ and βDown.β
Though the band never achieves the same level of mope they did with βSuicide Policemanβ – except maybe in the title trackβs chorus, because thereβs no better miserable bastard mantra than βI hate myselfβ β but thatβs okay. Sonically, Stranger Things is a celebratory record that shows a matured band entering the second act of their career, one free of asterisks.
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SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: YUCK – STRANGER THINGS
Marko Woloshyn