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Young Heart Attack
Rock & Awe
Not On Your Radio
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Article
written by Will B
Apr 29, 2008.
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What seemed like a promising start tailed off in a haze of bad luck, bad timing, and the age-old squabbling band-member’s excuse of ‘musical differences’. So after being dumped by XL Recordings following the muted response to debut album ‘Mouthful of Love’, Young Heart Attack decided to call it a day in 2006, only to reconvene 12 months later to work on a new set of songs. This material formed the body of ‘Rock & Awe’ and was subsequently picked up by the Not On Your Radio label.
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| Rock & Awe |
Harking back to the late 70s and early 80s when loose-limbed rock & roll collided with the energy of punk, YHA’s sophomore release is a mixed bag of tricks. Whilst the squiggly guitar riffs, pounding drums and castrated feline vocals sit perfectly well in that particular period, the problem is that the band are about 25 years too late. It all sounds very urgent and defiant, though scratching beneath the surface reveals a lack of actual tunes. Whilst the title track and the excellent ‘Munki’ grab the listener and throw them around the room in a rock & roll fit, the majority of the album seems to have been thrown together with a ‘will this do?’ attitude. The other major problem is that their audience has all but disappeared. When the summer of 2004 threw up the Darkness as unlikely rock saviours, similarly backward looking bands such as the Datsuns, Jet and Young Heart Attack were given their chance. Fortunately for us perhaps, and rather unfortunately for the bands themselves, the nostalgia lasted for all of nine months. When the Darkness’ second album tanked, most fans shifted on to the next scene quicker than an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. And there went YHA’s audience.
And so it leads us to ‘Rock & Awe’; a well played, well produced, and at times a very rockin’ affair, marred by too much filler and a lack of forward thinking.
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