It's a good thing Young and Heartless are getting this reissue under Hopeless Records out. Between these guys, Worthwhile, Milk Teeth and Trophy Eyes, I think there's a movement building on the label that's made even more interesting given that old-schoolers like Taking Back Sunday, The Used and Bayside, among others, have set up shop here as well. Both groups offer a stark contrast with the former coming off as the raw underground rising as opposed to the mainstream marketables still looking to maintain a presence in the current scene today. While the seasoned vets will undoubtedly keep drawing fans in, it's good to see the rookies like Young and Heartless coming out guns blazing and The Pull of Gravity is a great example why. In short, if there was no more Brand New, they'd fill the gap. I'm not even fucking with you on that comparison. These guys are legit.

Jeremy Henninger (vocals/guitar) feels like Jesse Lacey at so many twists and turns on this record. On the aggressive opener "Haunted" you immediately feel a hybrid of Brand New and Balance and Composure screaming at you. On the Lacey factor, well, it's taken a step further on "Weather Die" and "Golightly" - both slowing down the tempo and allowing Henninger's words to weigh down on you much more. Given the lyrics are so poetic, deep and personal, you won't find fault with the intimate space this weight manages to create. Henninger's world forms even more with the majority of tracks riffing off a soft/aggressive dynamic, building tension at all junctures and a call/response dynamic that as indie as it gets, is highly accessible and something I can easily see radios plumping for. In fact, it surprises me that they didn't take off much more when this dropped in 2014.

Another pleasant surprise came in finding out the record was mastered by Azimuth's Bill Henderson, who was the guitarist in the first incarnation of Thursday. His influence is felt as chords creep up here and there that throw back to "Streaks In The Sky" off Waiting, which makes you wonder if he really acted as a mentor on this album. That said, the album does feel more constrained than the older stuff from Young and Heartless but I think they went about about making this production more concise and crisp. I assume they didn't want to be caught wandering all over the place but honestly, if you listened to their past music, you really wouldn't mind if they did. Their archived material informs this album a lot so it's good to see that sense of continuity. And it shows with how all the tracks flow into each other, telling stories one by one, but still feeling like part of a bigger narrative from music made years ago.

There's a nice fluidity at hand here and as "Tomorrow's Problems" shouts things up, you're reminded that Young and Heartless, as melodic as they are, remain dedicated to pained novels and blistering shots of reality. Their music constantly reminds us that we're architects of our own destinies and just as they did with records prior, once pillars are laid down, it's all about moving forward, intermittently looking back, just to gain solace from the moments that made us smile. The Pull of Gravity is all about pressing on and rising up. It's rock anthem-set built on various genres such as emo, indie, punk and post-hardcore that's all about inspiration, dedication and perseverance. Can't ask for more.