Rocker (feedbot)
Gold Member
Age, like many things, creeps up on you. According to Spotify, The Young Hearts’ first release is a decade old. Slowly, they’ve grown into their band name, quietly doing their thing until they realised one thing, they were “never going to make it.” As the sadness of time caught up with them, reality punctured their dream, but it hasn’t stopped them. That understanding is both honest and, in many ways, freeing; they’re literally making music for themselves and that’s a good thing, otherwise we wouldn’t have their new EP ‘The Good, The Bad & The Rest Of Us’.
Remember that one summer, outside in the sunshine, sharing time with friends. You laughed and you loved, and it was only when you looked back that it felt special. That’s the EP’s vibe in a nutshell. The Young Hearts are storytellers, wrapping their memories in oak-aged punk and the jangle of lead guitars. It’s a mischievous type of music that can’t help but remind you of The Gaslight Anthem but has feel of a rocker’s well-worn jacket, comfortable and loved rather than the height of fashion.
Descriptions like ‘solid’, ‘likeable’ and ‘well-crafted’ often feel like understatements but are the kind of compliments any craftsperson likes to hear, you can apply them to everything on the EP and it’s these simple, solid features that make it work so well. All five tracks are unassuming and proud to be what they are, giving the entire twenty-minute runtime a delightful, understated energy best described as joy. You can hear it in the wicked little riff peeling through the title track or in the pleasing chimes of ‘Hell or Highwater’ which are easy to sway along to. Although ‘A Life On Fire’ was literally written as “one for the dads”, it maintains that get-together-in-a-sports-hall vibe and is easy for the older end to sway along to.
Time is often described as a great healer, but it’s also a melancholy companion and a vein of sadness runs through songs like ‘Steady Hands’. Not because of what they’re about, but the impression they leave. Notably, their spry and wise songwriting draws influence from Springsteen. It has a ‘tale around a campfire’ construction which they enhance with two-vocal sounds on ‘Hell Or Highwater’ to give it a conversational, “remember this?” feel. That’s why, despite its spirit, you’re left thinking the EP is quietly sad, like that wonderful summer you will never get back.
Time wasn’t kind to The Young Hearts’ dreams, but it was to their craft. ‘The Good, The Bad & The Rest Of Us’ is the sound of a band making music on their terms, in a way that works for them. It’s a delightful snapshot and a low-key elegy to spent time. It’s the sound of memories being made.
IAN KENWORTHY
Remember that one summer, outside in the sunshine, sharing time with friends. You laughed and you loved, and it was only when you looked back that it felt special. That’s the EP’s vibe in a nutshell. The Young Hearts are storytellers, wrapping their memories in oak-aged punk and the jangle of lead guitars. It’s a mischievous type of music that can’t help but remind you of The Gaslight Anthem but has feel of a rocker’s well-worn jacket, comfortable and loved rather than the height of fashion.
Descriptions like ‘solid’, ‘likeable’ and ‘well-crafted’ often feel like understatements but are the kind of compliments any craftsperson likes to hear, you can apply them to everything on the EP and it’s these simple, solid features that make it work so well. All five tracks are unassuming and proud to be what they are, giving the entire twenty-minute runtime a delightful, understated energy best described as joy. You can hear it in the wicked little riff peeling through the title track or in the pleasing chimes of ‘Hell or Highwater’ which are easy to sway along to. Although ‘A Life On Fire’ was literally written as “one for the dads”, it maintains that get-together-in-a-sports-hall vibe and is easy for the older end to sway along to.
Time is often described as a great healer, but it’s also a melancholy companion and a vein of sadness runs through songs like ‘Steady Hands’. Not because of what they’re about, but the impression they leave. Notably, their spry and wise songwriting draws influence from Springsteen. It has a ‘tale around a campfire’ construction which they enhance with two-vocal sounds on ‘Hell Or Highwater’ to give it a conversational, “remember this?” feel. That’s why, despite its spirit, you’re left thinking the EP is quietly sad, like that wonderful summer you will never get back.
Time wasn’t kind to The Young Hearts’ dreams, but it was to their craft. ‘The Good, The Bad & The Rest Of Us’ is the sound of a band making music on their terms, in a way that works for them. It’s a delightful snapshot and a low-key elegy to spent time. It’s the sound of memories being made.
IAN KENWORTHY