There’s been much buzz about the British fuzz masters known as Yuck ever since they unleashed their now critically-acclaimed, self-titled debut in 2011. Piercing and blurry hits such as “Get Away” and “The Wall” established the parameters of our listening experience, and we liked it – a lot.
Now, those two songs remain revered within the indie scene, and since Yuck’s initial splash into the collective consciousness, the fledgling band has garnered some well-deserved press, new fans, and cultural clout. Critics agreed that there was much promise and much to look forward to, but then, somewhat unexpectedly, lead singer Daniel Blumberg dipped out amidst the height of their hype. Soon, worry set in. Could a band, whose recent success depended so much upon the particular, treble-heavy vocal delivery and musical direction of one man, preserve long enough to produce a second album that fans would both recognize and enjoy? I believe they have, somewhat.
Glow & Behold is sure to leave something to desire within some of their following. Admittedly, I was more than a little hesitant on my initial spin: faced with dialed-down, syrupy textures instead of straight-up edge and sneer, I questioned if anything but the singles could possibly stick from this release. Determined to give it another chance, I settled in and let it repeat until I was sure. In the end, I chock up what I don’t like, or flat out miss from their debut, to an evolutionary trial and error, one that hits (in a different style of punches and kicks, naturally) about as much as it misses.
The album opens with “Sunrise in Maple Shade,” which ambles along with a pastoral sense of calm and serves to foreshadow the overall lilt of the proceeding tracks. With its serene steadiness of electric and acoustic guitars and punctuating bouts of horns, it’s a colorful and quaint offering but holds little weight in the bigger picture. As you’d expect, it takes a while to gain traction after that – it almost feels like the band fled the city to live out in the country, forgetting their sense of urgency at the train station. The tender melancholy of “Out Of Time” and “Lose My Breath” are evidence of Yuck’s new priorities, including distinguishable instrumental layers, the softer dynamics of reverbed crunch rather than balls-to-the-wall fuzz, and warmer, more inviting vocal melodies. While they are satisfying, they tend to flirt a little too much with restraint, and in mostly interchangeable ways. “Memorial Fields” slows things up and rounds out the first half as a remorseful little dirge before finally giving way to the meatier middle portion of the album.
“Middle Sea” is the welcome return of the Yuck that stole our hearts from right out of our ears back in 2011. Newly minted frontman Max Bloom triumphantly boasts “I don’t wanna live forever / I want you now” over both driving, grunge-based attack and the most successful utilization of horns in the album. It’s a joyful, nostalgic call to arms, and it’s obvious why Yuck chose it as one of their singles. The other single, “Rebirth,” quickly follows, winning us over with lush hypnotics instead of outright muscle, though the lyrical focus on immediacy and love is similar enough (i.e., “I don’t want your pain / I want you”). Unfortunately, packaging these heavyweights back to back is more bad than good as it results in a middle so strong that either end of Glow & Behold can’t maintain stride.
The elegiac “Somewhere” drags its feet in a “Memorial Fields” fashion and it unintentionally staunches the previous two track’s high. And though “Nothing New” is a compelling and spacey sleeper (with maybe a sprinkling of Bowie in there?), it’s not enough to save the second half, which struggles with consistency until “Glow and Behold,” the title track and closer that, thankfully, manages to thrive as a proper summation of their new direction and vibe.
Despite a bit of meandering and a shift in tempos and sonics, Glow & Behold truly could have been a worse sophomore record, and subsequent spins have made me grow fonder of it as a whole, if only because Yuck has proven that they won’t let crisis hinder their creativity and drive. I am confident they will only mature as they continue to find their footing as a relatively new band.
Review by Justin Davis. Follow him on Twitter at @yeahjustindavis.
