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Album Review

Their Hearts Were Full of Spring
How I Wasted My Youth Marketstall Records

Article written by James S - Sep 28, 2009

Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring - How I Wasted My Youth

How did you waste your youth, then? Well, if you’re anything like those of us who write for SoundsXP, then the chances are that your formative years involved spending more time and money on your record collection than on getting a decent haircut and clothes other than ill-fitting band t-shirts. And then wondering why girls didn’t fancy you. Or maybe that was just me.

I can’t comment on how much attention the seven members of Their Hearts Were Full of Spring paid to their looks in the past but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that they were pretty committed to sitting in their bedrooms listening to records and thinking about the opposite sex. The influences on display here include such disparate artists as the Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins and Rufus Wainwright and the general tone is of stolen kisses and romantic near-misses.

Some of the influences are just a bit too blatant however. A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away shamelessly lifts from Janis Ian’s classic weepie At Seventeen, whilst the admittedly gorgeous and elegant Fire Eyes is just the width of a Sheffield A to Z from appearing on a Richard Hawley album. And I just know that at some point I’m going to wake up at 3am having finally worked out what the piano refrain on All My Troubles Stemmed From There is nicked from.

Though sadly not a cover of the Depeche Mode song, A Question Of Trust is a cut above the rest (bar Fire Eyes) and would make an ideal choice for a single had it not already been released two years ago. Instead, promotional duties will fall on the undeserving St Cecilia, which is the rather irritating sum of several parts which just don’t fit together no matter how hard the band try.

THWFoS may look back in years to come and have a few regrets, but then again too few to mention judging from this record. Their youth clearly wasn’t wasted - just a little misspent at times perhaps.

Links:
http://www.theirheartswerefullofspring.tk
htttp://marketstallrecords.tk