Young The Giant – Self Explanatory
By Butch Cassidy
A Young band with Giant talent is exactly what I hear as I listened to Young the Giant’s eponymous 1st studio album. They have an impressive talent instrumentally and it is very evident. The group had been together for 6 years prior to this studio album and the chemistry between band members seems quite obvious. The song writing showcases all aspects of the group, and it doesn’t favor any particular aspect. It does seem that they are still searching for a particular direction to go with their music, but certainly have the ingredients necessary for future success.
The First thing i noticed about the album was that all 12 songs are quite long. Only 2 songs are shorter than 4 minutes, and even then, they are longer than 3 minutes and 50 seconds. I appreciate that, because sometimes I feel shortchanged when an album is full of short songs. This got me excited to listen to the album and i was not disappointed. I should have taken the track length as a clue, because every song on the album is structured like a masterpiece. I always find it interesting to see song organization in an album. Some artists seem to tell a story from start to finish throughout the album, where as others are more sporadic. I didn’t find any evidence of any particular story being told, but what I found, a collection of carefully constructed songs, I enjoyed.
The album did reasonably well in most modern rock charts. Billboard even rated the album #6 for Rock albums for 1 week, and their second single “Cough Syrup” has hit the top 10 multiple times. Essentially the album garnered a lot of attention for the group, and their potential as a continued success is paramount. What is most impressive for me is how quickly i came to enjoy it. I tend to be a harsh critic of music, and there wasn’t much to criticize. I do wonder why they chose “Cough Syrup” and “My Body” as singles for the album. I felt like they would have had more success had they chosen “St. Walker”, where the active-as-hell bass line mixed with inventive drumming and solid guitar mixing made an excellent ear-treat. The track also shows off the abilities of lead vocalist, Sameer Gadhia,who is very comfortable in-front of a microphone.
In all reality, Young The Giant should be proud of their debut self-titled album. I would recommend this album to any of my buddies with no fear of being judged, and that is a task for anyone. I have high hopes for the band’s continued success, and I will be patiently waiting for their follow-up. It seems that a common problem artists face is satisfying hype for their second album. I imagine that Young the Giant’s best work is ahead of them.