Nothing’s Changed, Nothing Matters, That’s Beautiful. A phrase that kept pounding away between my eyes as You’re Gonna Need A Little Music sprawled itself out before me. I found myself reviewing Yard Act in a far different personal landscape to their sophomore album. Back then I was walking in the early spring sun back near my family home having been made redundant weeks prior. Not much of a life behind me yet but what felt like an abyss in front. In fact, circumstantially my experiences line up far more with how their debut met me. As I let the political dancey punk consume my last days of university, I had a misguided energy and undeserved feeling of their being worlds to conquer that has found its way back to me. I believe Iggy Pop would’ve shortened that down to Lust for Life. It seems that Yard Act have mirrored me once more in their ferocious Lust for Life on this latest, a change back from the more introspective wandering of Where’s My Utopia. So… perhaps nothing has changed, though such is life that the journey to this stasis is a long one stained with stories that stay with you.
Okay, so maybe nothing has changed, but things matter… I’m sure they do… and no amount of northern punk bands coronated by Elton John are gonna convince me otherwise. Though the razor lyrics of Thrill of the Chase and Empty Pledges do try and make a great case. Okay they’ve at least piqued my interest enough to see the idea through, after all, in me you will struggle to find a bone that doesn’t enjoy when James Smith et al. are firing on all cylinders. The one two punches of break neck punk followed by morose alternative rock that feels more at home on the seminal uncanny valley-esque The Head Hurts But The Heart Knows The Truth always land right in the guts. You only have to listen to Janey Smith after the bouncy Cherophobe Rock and aforementioned Thrill of the Chase to know that you never really stood a chance to begin with. The controlled rage and relentless melancholia it can bubble up inside you at the snap of a snare or the rumble of a bassline is enough to convince anyone that, in the words of James Smith circa 2022 “It’s all so pointless.”
It would be the act of a disingenuous trog to leave this review all there though. After all, Smith immediately went on to say “and that’s beautiful I find in humbling sincerely.” Perhaps the mantra this album kept throwing at me was a direct echo of their debut, afterall… nothing has changed, but just as importantly, that IS beautiful. Listen to Over the Barrel and tell me otherwise. The deep titular refrain just before the chorus puts a smile on your face, before the bareface hope of the chorus itself is enough on its own to drag you by your shoelaces off into the sunset, if it wasn’t for the beautiful burning hurricane of a final minute that makes you dance there of your own accord. Jangly piano, crashing cymbals and a whirring guitar/bass combo that speeds and speeds until you reach the peaceful tranquility of the final few seconds and you realise that Smith’s plea of “break through. I want you to break through baby” happened long ago… or maybe I have just listened to this album far more than the amount recommended to me by my local GP.
You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’ will be released on Friday 17th July via Island Records – Pre Order It Here
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