The Early Years - The Early Years (Beggars Banquet)
3/5
By: Charlie Potter
This band are one of those that have managed to not get caught up in all the peripheral nonsense that there is around writing good music. In short, there is no gimmick to The Early Years, no pretence, and that in itself makes this album a good listen. When you put this honest approach together with style of upbeat, what I'm gonna call 'space indie' (you know the sort of thing, it rolls along with a consistent beat and builds up slowly whilst having a few weird space noises in the background until it peaks at a triumphant guitar melody), you get a really nice positive result, much better than the arrogant twits that think they've revolutionised music for the good of humanity as happens with a lot of 'space indie.'
With most 'space indie' I'm always left feeling a bit confused as to what sort of environment I'm meant to listen to it in. It seems to be made with live shows in mind, but I always associate this very indie sound with being concerned with trying to make a classic record. You indie types are always talking about classic records, which is ironic because you're also so obsessed with new bands. Doesn't it take a while for something to be classed as classic?
Perhaps I'm going too far with this indie stereotype, but still I can imagine that The Early Years really want people to listen very, very closely to this record. Sat here on my own I feel like I'm supposed to get up (uh) and start dancing, but I know that the record is not quite good enough to make me feel comfortable if I were to do so. So here I am sat nodding my head, getting too absorbed into the music to ignore it, but not knowing what to do. I can imagine that this would be a very good car album (or an even better train album). If you don't know what I'm talking about, try listening to some Fleetwood Mac (the stuff with Stevie Nicks) not in a car and then try listening to it in a car, and whether or not you like Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac you'll agree that their sound is aided by an automobile.
There are also many more reflective points on 'The Early Years' which on their own would be a little lagging, but they fit nicely on this record as a sort of ballad-like regression. Their reflective nature seems to compliment and refer to the other tracks, whereas on their own they would seem like too much of a statement. This album falls into the three out of five category just because it's a little too generic, and one thinks they're either to going to have to do a little exploring or honing of what they've already found to make an album that really stands out. But this is something that's well within their power, and something I'm looking forward to hearing them nail.
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