Generally, I focus my attention here on things that I like. It would seem like wasted energy to do otherwise. But I'll take a day off that on here to direct my scorn momentarily on Yard Act's debut album, The Overload, a shockngly bad record which seems to be symptomatic of much that I dislike in youthful modern British guitar music.
Yard Act would probably generally be labelled an alternative band I imagine, but in order to truly deserve to be called that you need t provide some kind of genuine alternative to the status quo. The Overload sadly does not do that. It's far too instantly familiar. Stale even.
It's this Post Punk thing. This Brixton Windmill thing that's beebn buildng up and outstaying its welcome for a couple of years now. Yard Act may not hang out at the Brixton Windmill but they might as well be. IDLES, Squid, Dry Cleaning, Black Country New Road and so on and so forth. And back from there to The Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, Jon Cooper Clarke and The Kitchen Sink Films and The Angry Young Men.
The reference points are so hackneyed now, its almost tiring to list them. Yard Act's hearts are probably in the right place. They rail against everything that is wrong with the UK, most notably conformity but all the time they're deeply, deeply conformative themselves.
I found The Overload, very difficult to listen through to all the way through. There was no light or shade. It will doubtless be greatly lauded, in fact it already has been. But frankly its really tired product.There are a few young British bands related to this scene that I care for. Goat Girl, Shame and Cool Greenhouse. But mostly it leaves me quite cold and I'll continue to look elsewhere.
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