Young Orchids
Afterglow
[RoadOasis Recordings, 2011]
Sometimes something is just good. Not groundbreaking, not transcendent, not especially mind-blowing or unique, but unimpeachably solid. Try as you might, you’ll find no chinks in the armor, no weaknesses in the defense. Take Afterglow, for instance. There’s nothing on the eleven-song debut LP from high-energy rockers, Young Orchids, that will set the world on fire, but damn if these aren’t eleven of the catchiest blasts of anthemic indie rock and pop I’ve heard this year. Haters will no doubt see this album as manufactured and derivative, and they might have a point if it weren’t so well-constructed and confidently delivered.
Swaying and sun-baked, “Wipeout” is a wise choice for an opener. Full of fuzzy guitars and led by singer Kyle Gordon’s warm, watery croon, the song perfectly establishes the album’s alternately exhilarating and laid back mood. Make no mistake, this is a summer driving record meant for throwing back beers and wildly drumming out beats on your dashboard (preferably not at the same time). But you shouldn’t take that to mean that it’s foolishly frivolous or that the band doesn’t understand how to shift gears when necessary. Afterglow is also an admirably diverse sounding record that manages to embrace elements of punk, pop, doo-wop and blazing four-on-the-floor rock with equal affinity. If you’re looking for highlights, check out “Hey Marshall,” a sneering punk corker driven by sharp guitars and plenty of swagger or else the hypnotic “Twelve Feet Tall,” which uses a pulsing organ and mesmerizing monotone vocals to set up a booming chorus. Both tracks tend to stray towards the band’s heavier side, but they’re no less dynamic or melodic.
It might seem a little lame to point out that an album’s greatest asset is it’s consistency, but I hear far too many albums, especially on the local level, that consist of a couple of quality cuts surrounded by an array of half-hearted castoffs and throwaways. Young Orchids’ music may not be my thing and my initial instinct may be too attack the album as leaning too far towards mainstream radio rock, but there’s no doubt that the group has put in some serious work over the past couple of years sharpening it’s sound, and every bit of it shows here. Afterglow is a solid record from start to finish, one that deserves whatever positive attention it gets.
Young Orchids will celebrate the release of Afterflow tonight at Star Bar opening for J. Roddy Walston and the Business. Also performing will be Leslie. Doors open at 9pm. $10 gets you in.
Afterglow Tracklist:
01. Wipeout
02. Lucky
03. Hey Marshall
04. Daysleeper
05. No Time Like Now
06. Twelve Feet Tall
07. Dirty Hands
08. Tonight (Be With Me)
09. Golden One
10. While You’re Young
11. Slow Down
More Info:
Web: www.theyoungorchids.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/youngorchids
Twitter: www.twitter.com/youngorchids
The Electric Nature
Mount Analogue
[Self-released, 2011]
Download This Album:
Bandcamp
There is something singular about Michael Potter’s music, something inescapably his own. Sifting though all the scattered fragments, you may recognize the pieces — bits and scraps of experimental electronica, post-rock, psych folk, and surrealist pop filtered almost recklessly through an uncompromising drone lens — but the way he strings them together in patterns so foreign and alienating is what makes his music both fascinating and yet difficult to delve into. Potter, alias the Electric Nature, works in totalities, painting his abstract murals of sound on canvases that have become increasingly large and extended; you need to step back before taking it all in. Tracks like “Null Zone” and “Dungeon” are so blown-out and frayed to their core that it would be easy to dismiss them as willful exercises in grating, marginally-sculpted noise. But listened to in the context of the entire album they establish a tension and a looming sense of darkness that only serves to amplify the fragile beauty of the more melodic songs like “Daniel’s Song” and “Night Vision.” These wide sweeping tonal and mood shifts also help to add some much needed color to Potter’s often stark, monochromatic soundscapes.
At over 81 minutes, Mount Analogue offers a dizzying amount of music that’s nearly impossible to absorb in one sitting. It’s also denser and more complex than anything he’s done in the past. This isn’t a record you can casually throw on for pleasure or distraction. This is music from the fringes — jarring, chaotic and fiercely original.
More Info:
Web: www.theelectricnature.blogspot.com
Bandcamp: www.theelectricnature.bandcamp.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheElectricNature
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ThElectricNatur
thank goodness for realistic album reviews. YO is not my cup of tea, but i was able to realize it through the description of the music. It’s not misleading in other words. Good, solid, approachable music is what I got out of it. What’s wrong with that? nothing.