"They came from the sun" is the North Eastern quintets (Sort of) second full long play offereing. I say sort of, as they recently released "Print is Dead volume 1", an album of collaborations with artists like Gordon Moakes (Bloc Party), the Automatic, Lethal Bizzle and Reuben. A quality album, which was recorded simulateneously with TCFTS in their "Like a cat, like a fox" Studios located under a bridge in Byker, named after the original title for first album Ignoto. The boys have built the studio from scratch, begging, borrowing and stealing whatever they can to improve it.
YCNI:M are a band that have progressed far in their time on the music scene. Their first offering, the "All Roads to Fault" E.P., saw them producing some very raw, heavy music with a very stripped back 3guitarsbassdrumsandvocals set up. The E.P. saw some great songs, with great riffs, vocals, and bizarre timings. Best tracks on the play are title track, "All roads to fault" and "fourthree".
With second offering, "Ignoto", the band showed a much more more grown up sound, the quality of which was enhanced by production from FLOOD. This album brought more great riffs (check out single "Schteeve" and "the General"), but saw much bigger sounding songs, showing the benefits time can bring to a band. The album also saw the introduction of a distortion effect on singer Paul Mullens voice, which helped to enhance the songs bulk, bringing further comparisons to bands such as "At The Drive In". The album also saw some quiter, much more experimental tracks such as "Team Radar" and "the Audition", which brought a new sound to the bands musical CV, but was quite a dramatic change which took some adapting to for some fans (including myself).
Current album, "They came from the sun", sees the band produce what I can only describe as a masterpiece. The band recorded and produced the album themselves, with no outside help. For most bands, this would lead to a poor quality album, but YCNI:M have shown great intelligence, and musical apttitude, to produce what is going to be one of the albums of the year.
First track on the album, "Pacific Theatre", starts as the rest of the album goes on. On first listen, All I could think was "what the hell is going on?". But in a good way, as the music is so clever that a song often takes a few listens to even begin to take it in. The main riff in this song, catchy as it is, is almost status quo esque but fused with alt rock at it's best. The song twists and turns, as the beat changes dramatically for the chorus, leading to a truely epic aural experience. This is the sort of music that requires you to sit down, put the album on, and do nothing but listen. This, ladies and gentlement, is intelligent rock at its best.
This album also shows a much greater use of synth and electronic effects in the songs, as shown from tracks "All that was missing" and "I'm leaving". This adds a completely new dynamic to songs, which hasn't been seen before by the band. "I'm leaving" in particular, is a very potent song, making a big use of synth in conjunction with very clever guitar, to create a song which loses none of the classic YCNI:M charm, but is catchy in an almost pop-esque way.
One noticable change on this album is the drumming style. "Ignoto" drummer Paul Gamble Beresford left the band to be replaced by Shaun Abbott, who has clearly stamped his mark on the album in a big way. Whilst elements of the bands trademark querky drum timings can still be found, such as closing instrumental track "Dicta Boelcke", the majority of this albums drums are made up of very simple driving beats. Although it's dissapointing that the drums have lost some of the emphasis in the songs due to their simplicity, they work amazingly on most places in the album. Afore mentioned "All that was missing", and experimental track "Translate", have frankly perfect driving beats that simply make the song. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the drums, although different, do not lower the quality of the songs in any way. The driving beats on this album make it what it is.
"Take to the floor" is probably the straightest song on the album, seeing Paul going into full singing mode in a way not seen since ARTF, and seeing the rest of the band regressing to this period too. Great, clean guitars, brilliant drums, and nice supporting bass.
The latter of the tracks, "Translate", sees the bands create a perfect fusion of old and new, with the use of vocal effects to completely change the way they are used in a song, but with the jerky guitar seen from ARTF. Not one of the most accessible tracks for a casual listener, but definately a grower.
Tracks "I'm impressed", "Evening" and "Screaming ground" see the band produce the best songs to come out of Britain in a very long time. The guitar riffs in "Evening" and "Screaming ground" have to be heard to be beleived. Songs so perfectly written, executed and recorded doesn't happen very often. "I'm impressed" has to be my track of the album, with simply brilliant technical drumming and guitar, leading into a vocal and guitar harmony that just makes the listener want to loop that section of the song over and over again.
People looking to the quieter side of YCNI:M will not be left upset, with "sixfive" producing a beautiful piece of well produced music, which is experimental in many ways, but results in a well rounded track that fits the album, and the band, a lot better than some of the attempts on "Ignoto " did.
First single off the long player is "Understand", which is a very radio-friendly song. Great guitars and vocal hook make this song very listenable, particularly for those who haven't heard the band before. The chorus shows great utilisation of the 3 guitar structure, to produce a quality track.
Let me say now, in summary, this album is brilliant. This is potentially the only album i've ever heard without a single filler or let down. Every single song has something good to listen to, something that will appeal to anyone who likes great music. Most bands hope to write a song of the quality of one of these songs at least once in their career, and YCNI:M has produced an album full of them.
This album far supercedes previous release Ignoto. As good as it was, it felt like it was missing something, and in parts was very "out there". This album is constant and flows. This album feels right. Every song fits in the role it is given, all the bits work together. Listen to the album from start to finish and cherish every second. This is an art piece.
Welcome, the saviours of British music.
The band are on tour around the UK this month.
Score: 9/10
Download: "I'm Impressed", "Screaming Ground"
Don't download: n/a
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