REVIEW: YUCK: STRANGER THINGS

It’s album number three for London-based garage-pop band Yuck and, thankfully, the third time is a charm here. They financed this one via PledgeMusic and I guess it worked out for them because the album was finished and is now available for your purchase, which I strongly suggest that you do because it’s quite charming, oozing with infectious garage rock riffs and bountiful pop hooks. And you can buy it via their PledgeMusic page [http://smarturl.it/strangerthings] along with many other goodies. Anyway, no, I’m not working as a salesman for them; I just like to help out artists I’m impressed with and I’m hugely taken by this album. It packs lots of raw, fuzzy goodness for you to groove to along with drum patterns that are, well, danceable. They also turn down the distortion once in a while, such as on the beautiful mid-tempo ballad “Stranger Things.” Frontman Max Bloom sings, “Stranger things have happened to me since you’ve been gone,” and you’ll likely find yourself singing along. It happened to me. But the album isn’t about making you sing. It’s about deep things like love and whether relationships are worth it, dealt with best in “Hearts In Motion,” a song that’s like a cross between The Cars and the recent output by The Raveonettes. It’s a rocker, to be sure, and it packs excellent guitar hooks, but it also has an early ’80’s pop vibe. Or maybe I’m imagining that. This album definitely requires the imagination. You’ll be pleasantly tripping as you listen to the beautiful “Swirling,” which is enough to give you vertigo. Other songs veer in the other direction, exploring anxiety and uncertainty, such as “Like a Moth” and “I’m OK.” The band can relate to these songs, having gone through a line up change when founding member Daniel Blumberg left the group in 2013 and Edward Hayes came on board as their new guitarist. But they need not worry about that now because this album is their best to date, making it appear that the line up change was kismet. In any case, this is a great record and all it takes is one listen to get hooked.

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cvr

Released: 2/26/16

MAMÉ RECORDS

Buy Stranger Things on Amazon.

 


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