Yuck

     You may be getting the impression from my blog so far that I'm a middle-aged guy who only listens to older music. Not true! I love new bands like Cloud Nothings, Popstrangers and Extra Medium Pony just to name a couple. One new band I really love is Yuck. Their sound is heavily influenced by 90's alternative, but they manage to not sound derivative. They do power pop, shoegaze and straight up, fuzzed out guitar rock. They also have a female bass player and a drummer with big hair. The bands that come to mind when listening to their album are Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr., Yo La Tengo and Pavement. I was put off a little from buying the CD because the album art is rather unpleasant. Daniel Blumberg, who is the singer and one of the guitarists, is also an artist. He drew the artwork which is a drawing of some messed up looking person who is apparently about to vomit. I managed to overcome the artwork and I've actually bought the album threec times. I bought the original CD, then the reissue with 6 B-sides included on CD and vinyl. I also bought 2 of their 7'' records when I went to see them at the Grog Shop. The CD opens with the track "Get Away" which is one of my favorite opening songs on any album. It comes right out of the gate with guitars blazing and set the tone for the rest of the album. My other favorite songs "Shook Down" and "Sunday" are power pop gems that could easily fit on Teenage Fanclub's Grand Prix. "Georgia" is indebted to Yo La Tengo and I assume is a tribute to Georgia since it's sung by their bass player Mariko Doi. The B-sides disc has a couple songs that most bands would kill to have on an actual album. "Milkshake" is another power pop masterpiece. It has great lyrics and the chorus is killer," I don't want to get you down / I just need to be around /  baby you're so unkind / you make a milkshake of my mind". Who hasn't been there? "Coconut Bible" is an endearingly goofy ditty about coconuts, I guess, but it's a great song with awesome guitars. "Cousin Corona" is a slow, menacing song that builds to the chorus, then explodes, then pulls back again, and repeats. Once again, great guitars. The lead guitarist is Max Bloom and I was at the urinal next to him at the Grog Shop show. I didn't say anything to him or violate any men's room ettiquette. Anyhow, this album is one of those albums that makes me wonder what's wrong with people. More people should know who Yuck are, but they can't get a sniff. Meanwhile, crap like Death Cab For Cutie and Kings of Leon and Coldplay gets shoved down our throats. My kids definitely have to give this one a chance. Peace.