Only one minor qualm: first paragraph, the phrase "rubbing soldiers"; did you mean "rubbing shoulders"?

Otherwise, awesome review. You hit on my favorite points, YtG's excellent rhythm section and Sameer's vocals. Looking forward to hearing this.

this sounds good so far

Album Rating: 3.0

Crystallized is so good

Just listened for the first time. Overall thought it was pretty good but lacked any song that was as immediately catchy as Cough Syrup. Definitely much more cohesive and I didn't think there were any terrible tracks unlike a few from their debut. Awesome review Davey!

"accessible indie-rock style"

I'm out.

Album Rating: 3.7

"Only one minor qualm: first paragraph, the phrase "rubbing soldiers""



Officially cannot believe that I wrote that. In fact, I'm gonna blame spell-check or something. I can assure everyone that I knew the phrase was rubbing shoulders... Because rubbing soldiers, well, that could mean anything... LOL. Thanks for the pickup infinitetcetera.

Album Rating: 3.7

Thanks Trey. You're my not-so-local IT expert.... And God knows, I need one.



Way too long cyg... Now if I can only get that 'Best of 2013' list of mine up!



Thanks RadicalEd. I don't think this album will win over many of the haters of their self-titled, but I think they will see that they tried to improve on their deficiencies.



No probs Henry. Like I said in an earlier comment, 'Anagram' has been the real grower for me. It may not have initially caught my notice due to it preceding the 3 singles.



Thanks again infinitetcetera. I absolutely love the way the bass is mixed on both of their albums. I have mixed feelings on the vocals. The guy is obviously very talented & has an excellent range, but I just hope he doesn't become a (for want of a better term) jack of all trades & master of none. There's still some work to be done imo.



You're spot on kmace. There are not as many highlights here as on their self-titled, but it's more consistent & cohesive. If there is any filler, it's more a by-product of the album being slightly overlong, resulting in a little redundancy.

I'm looking at that cover thinking that bird has an unfortunate facial growth, is tangling with the mother of all mussels, being amorous with a baby manatee or is plain and simply gone in for a shit hair cut.
Anyway intriguing stuff.

Album Rating: 3.0

i see a girl making out with a bird

First review in over 5 months! Can you feel the rust?

Nah man, only thing I can feel is an overwhelming urge to finally check these guys out.

Album Rating: 3.0

Great writing as always, Davey.



I didn't mind nor hate their debut as much as Pitchfork, but it was definitely pretty lackluster -- thankfully this sounds much improved (especially "Crystallized", so I'll check it out.



Oh, and when's the "Best of 2013 list by Davey" coming out?

Album Rating: 3.7

I thought that was Skrillex on the cover!



Give both their albums a go Omaha. They're a tricky band to predict whether someone will like them or not, because they tend to cause indifference. But I'm certain you'll like them to some extent.



Thanks TLTGB. List has been ordered & written for a while, I just need to edit & stuff. Then this review got in the way. Tonight an Arcade Fire (with support from Diplo... WTF) concert gets in the way. So it should be up later this week.

Album Rating: 4.0

Great review Davey. I've seen Young the Giant a handful of times, would consider them more of an alternative rock band then indie rock.

Album Rating: 3.0

what JTW said. More harder than your average poppy indie band

I'm interested in this because I really liked their first album. "It's About Time" sounded so much heavier than their self-titled album, so I'm certainly curious.

Album Rating: 3.7

As Sputnik used to attest, I think a band can be both alt & indie. They've definitely got a bit of both imo.



What are they like live JWT?



'It's About Time' is indeed the heaviest thing here, but there's 2 or 3 other tracks that follow the template.

the title track is so tasty

also, it's so nice to see you again, Davey!! I was actually thinking in the car earlier whether you still like Emery as much as you did when you wrote that mammoth of a review for ISSWS

Album Rating: 3.7

Of course I do. Which reminds me, they're due another album this year.

I dug their earlier stuff. maybe I'll dig this one too.

Album Rating: 3.0

Cyg I thought you would hate this