Sunday, April 3, 2011

REVIEW: Yuck - Yuck

"Why are they called Yuck?" asked the child, "Don't they want people to like their music?"

Of course they do, I thought, they're just being silly, having a little fun. And it occurred to me that, to a refreshing degree, this band is about the music and not the marketing. They're just playing what they like (and, by the way, what I like - don't know when I've come upon a debut that was so easy for me to love right out of the wrapper).

Throwing the guitar fuzz-laden "Get Away" and "The Wall" out there for starters, this band declares its intentions to honor the great 90's rock of precursors like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., and honor it they do. I also find some delightful similarities to a personal favorite, Centro-matic... a feedback/guitar explosion is never far away, and they're always very well-placed.

This record is impeccably sequenced. The feedback-drenched loud stuff flows right along into the gorgeous vocal harmonies and strummed acoustic of "Shook Down" (but, again, with jangling electric guitars never far away), and they do this to great effect throughout the record. "Holing Out": oh, man the guitars! and then "Suicide Policeman" is a beautifully sung ballad that reminds me of Wilco's "How to Fight Loneliness".

There is really nothing bad I can say about this record. I'd like to thank Fat Possum for finding/signing these folks, and especially the band: Ilana Blumberg, Max Bloom, Daniel Blumberg, Mariko Doi, and Jonny Rogoft, for making such an enjoyable record. And, keep it up, Matt Pence!

Here they are playing "Get Away":

Yuck - Get Away from Yuck on Vimeo.


And here's the b-side to "Get Away":

Doctors In My Bed by Yuck

Website: Yuck at Fat Possum

Website: Yuck Blog

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