By Jonny Bakes
The other day I turned 30 which, while isn’t really all that old, certainly made me feel like it! I like to think that I’m still young at heart though, so when I came across the debut full-length album from Kent’s up and coming punk rock band, The Young Hearts, it seemed like I was destined to pick it up. The question is, which flavour of punk rock will I get? Will it be the kind that makes scathing observations, the kind that’s all about partying and failing with women, or the kind that is almost too relatable and tugs at the heartstrings. There’s only one way to find out for sure, and that’s to get to grips with ‘The Modern State’.
On first listen, it looks like I’m in for a bit of an emotional ride, and that’s fine by me. The album is chock full of bright and cheery guitar riffs and simple rhythms that accompany melodic vocals which gives off a nice happy atmosphere but then there’s the lyrics, and this is where a lot of the magic is. The Young Hearts clearly take a very personal approach to their lyric writing which results in songs that cover seriously relatable experiences like; turning to someone for comfort when times are rough, drinking on cold nights, the questioning of your own direction… the list goes on. The beauty of these is that every song covers such simple aspects of life that it’s easy to get sucked into the music and you’ll find yourself in a pretty reflective state for a while after the album finishes.
The album opens with ‘Wild and Reckless’ which slowly ramps up from a simple introduction that’s reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen but quickly flows into an energetic guitar riff. This sets the tone for the rest of the album by being a predominantly vocal driven track where the riffs act as a vehicle for the lyrics and to fill the void gaps between verses. There’s a good reason that the vocals are the focal point of the song though, as Craig Lawrence sings with a real passion that magnifies the emotional nature of the lyrics. You can tell that every word that comes out of his mouth is personal, which is something that is very difficult to put on, and I would be very interested to hear some of the stories behind the songs.
Overall ‘The Modern State’ didn’t quite tickle my pickle in the right way, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t tickle yours! If you like your music to be on the emotional side and often find yourself gravitating towards bands that fit quite nicely into the “more emotional than party” branch of punk rock, then this could well be something of interest for you. There’s really nothing bad I can say about this album though, it’s a clean, energising collection of songs that are so open and honest that it’s hard to not get caught up in that atmosphere. I can also imagine that The Young Hearts would be a fun live experience and they are seriously itching to get out on the road to promote ‘The Modern State’ when circumstances permit, so perhaps I’ll manage to catch them live to see whether that’s the thing that makes them click with me!
- ‘The Modern State’ is released on Friday (29 January). You can get your copy HERE.
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