Review Summary: Better than average debut, with pop-laiden guitar and a diverse range of influences.
The name ‘Yves Klein Blue’ may spring a few surprised looks when first heard. After all, it isn’t the easiest name to spell or even pronounce correctly for that matter. Named after French artist Yves Klein’s famous International Klein Blue - renowned for never losing its colour or intensity over time, the Brisbane four-piece are on edge of starting a similar journey to their aforementioned name.
With the release of their feverishly anticipated debut album ‘Ragged and Ecstatic’, Yves Klein Blue have continued and built upon the foundations that were seen on the EP ‘Draw Attention to Themselves’.
Whilst many would simply label the record as ‘indie’, they successfully incorporate a range of diverse sounds from simple pop hooks and bouncing melodies, to elements of ska and grunge, along with the odd acoustic track here and there. This makes for an enjoyable listen as the album kicks off with piano driven “Make up your mind” and the jumpy, upbeat track, ‘Soldier’, both of which will stay in your head for hours on end. This is before the band unleashes their lead single ‘Getting Wise’ which combines the catchiness and cheerfulness of the first two tracks and along with a memorable sing-along chorus, the track is a hand-crafted hit and was born to be performed live.
The album then takes a slightly different turn with “Digital Love”, showing a heavier side to the band with its distorted guitars proudly displaying elements of grunge. More twists and turns follow with “About the future” and “Celebrity Death”, both providing acoustic relief and a nice change in tact. Though their not the strongest tracks on the album, they do effectively show off Michael Tomlinson’s song writing skills, as “About the future” has probably the best and most distinct lyrics on the record. “Summer Sheets” follows, further displaying the band’s creativity with a nice incorporation of trumpets. Its ska-ish style is strongly reminiscent of The Clash and the song could easily slot into London Calling somewhere.
The pop continues with probably the strongest track on the album “Polka”, which thanks
to Mitsubishi is fast becoming a widely recognised tune. It shows the band at the best, seemingly gliding between its clean, catchy verses to its loud and pounding breakdowns, not to mention the amazing solo from Charles Sale.
From then on unfortunately, the album does start to become drawn out. “Dinosaur” provides more guitar driven pop, but it isn’t anything that the earlier tracks haven’t done.
Overall, for a debut effort, it’s pretty damn good. Most of the songs are just good, fun, pop songs with enough of a rock feel to appeal to a wide audience. The bands strengths clearly lie in their influences. This is an album that definitely has more than one sound to it, which is more than you can say for a lot of today’s bands. However, the album becomes a tad tedious as it becomes apparent that some of the songs could have been left off, providing a more rounded off, complete effort.
In conclusion, Yves Klein Blue may well be a band to keep your eye on in the future. They are already becoming fairly prominent in the Brisbane music scene, just finishing a tour with Wolfmother and with this album providing a decent stepping stone, there’s no where but up for them.
