Some bands offer nothing but a straight-up pop-indie album with melodious catchy tunes. Young Statues' self-titled record is exactly that. It's easy-going and laid back, and this pure form of pop-indie, if you want a fun Sunday evening, will meet your ears nicely. Of course, if you're looking for punk or post-hardcore, please abstain if not open-minded.
"Spacism" is one of the funky pops of pops of pop here that fans of Foster the People, Dashboard Confessional and Young the Giant may take to as there's the Rooney effect felt in a lot of their songs--"
The album commences with and maintains that new wave of simplicity in its own polished and jovial manner, but sometimes there's a feel that it's just another lackluster chorus, verse or poem being fabricated. Just a bit more diversity could have been sewed and stitched into the sleeves. The melodious vibe still can't be denied as "Half-Light" tests waters on teen angst and coming-of-age, atypical to the endearing angst we all knew when scribbling crap in notebooks in high school. There's just enough promise to forgo the light beats. A dangerous line is treaded as some songs sound repetitive and may be continuations of the others but while it wasn't as mixed up as I anticipated, it still gave some cheery attitude.
"If you go calling anybody else, make sure they value your smile / And make sure they hold onto you tight all of the time / Because I know I'm losing a friend / And I can't help it" on "Losing A Friend" is the most outstanding focal point on the album and its warmth is well placed, and I wish more of these were on the record. It's a great dose of sublime indie harmony in the record's spine. It borders on their jurisdiction to keep stuff poppy. They let go a bit here and it was most enjoyable.
Their self-titled track ignite=sd a faster pace that suits the album well and again, maybe a bit more of this would make a stronger offering. It's a lot of introspection, tact and honesty but at times, it seems that they played it safe, protected and didn't want to let go of that proverbial supporting crutch. The songs offered showed they had the talent to really do something swimmingly though.
"We trusted everything enough" is a prime example that an already decent song could have been made better if the sublime intricacy in keeping a pop sing-along vibe had been dispensed. "Keep It Dark" keeps a nice momentum as the album winds down into a Mike Stipe influence via the powerful "Meet Me at the Hudson" and while they aren't Counting Crows/R.E.M., I STILL emphasize that if you want a smooth, cohesive segueing of indie-alternative pop into your lapels and chilled collars, then by all means, have at this record. It's far from inept and worth a breezy afternoon respite.