ALBUM REVIEW: Somewhere Through The Night – The Young Hearts
Having built up a decent head of steam off the back of their debut full-length The Modern State, Kent punk rock band THE YOUNG HEARTS return with their new album Somewhere Through The Night. The band have shared stages with the likes of MALLORY KNOX, CAN’T SWIM, JUNIOR and many others, allowing themselves to build a rabid and dedicated fanbase who will receive this album with open arms. The quartet have leaned into a more punk sound as the years have gone by, and this album marks them out further still as a name to watch.
Somewhere Through The Night is full of upbeat songs, especially the opener Famous Last Words, which will translate well live with its rocking instruments and fantastic drum beat that carries the song, and third track The Way Back, a mid-tempo rock song with some brilliant vocals and an enjoyable backing guitar riff. Admittedly between these two is Take A Ride, which sounds like a rehash of Famous Last Words in both vocal delivery and instruments, making it hard to differentiate them, but it is nonetheless a strong start to the album.
Whilst things take a dip in energy a bit on fourth track Good Company, a mid-paced rock song, thankfully Hit The Ground Running brings things back up to speed with a brilliant rocking guitar riff introduction before launching into a joyful rock song that is both fast-paced and danceable. Our Hometown marks the mid-way point of the album, and it somewhat predictably falls into the angsty emo-rock like many before it. It isn’t a bad song on its own, but it is a path that has been trodden many times before, and sadly THE YOUNG HEARTS don’t bring anything new to the table with it.
Thankfully, things pick up a lot in the latter half of the album. Whether it is the triumphant rock of Lucky Ones or the fun-loving punk of A Charmed Society, the joyfulness of the songs bleeds through the speakers. Of course, there are softer moments, such as Passenger, which utilises the harmonica and acoustic guitar, and in fact the last six songs of the album are the most experimental as the band try new things.
Some people might view the last half of the album as the band trying to make things more interesting after a beginning half that was fun, but also walked familiar ground. However, the album is so well produced that the more experimental half sounds as natural as the first half, and it shows that whilst the band have made themselves at home in rock, there is still room for them to flex some different musical muscles without distracting from their core sound.
Overall, Somewhere Through The Night is a brilliant album by one of the most exciting bands to emerge over the last few years. Although it is still early days for them, THE YOUNG HEARTS have created an album that is cohesive, with a core sound, and also a little bit experimental. If the first half of the album is a little rusty, it is the second half that reveals the winning formula and makes it very clear that THE YOUNG HEARTS are a name to watch, if you weren’t aware of that already of course.
Rating: 8/10
Somewhere Through The Night is set for release on December 1st via Year Of The Rat Records.
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