Issue 521

Yuck Yuck Fat Possum Records Here's a clever trick if you're making a record - keep the vocals fairly low in the mix with a ravaging distortion effect so the only way listeners can hear what's going on is with the volume at ten. London grunge revivalists Yuck are doing precisely this, and while it might be a cause for irritation, it really is the only way this record should be heard. The five piece are doing the lo-fi power pop thing so darn right and after the recent bombardment of surfer rock with distant echoed vocal, this insert of brash and severely likeable nineties garage fodder is actually much the opposite of how it is aurally - a breath of fresh air. So turn up tracks like opener Getaway and the Australian rock tinged Operation as they mimic those classic hollow leads Australia's own garage royalty Jebediah trademarked. Get acquainted once more with that inner nineties child of yours with the brilliant and blindingly simple groove of The Wall. It shouldn't come as a surprise to hear that there's nothing complicated about the record, yet there's never a dull moment. It's loud, it's dirty and most of all catchy as all heck, even when the Fenders are laid to rest for a collection of lush acoustic tracks. Where grunge usually takes the messy, raw approach to a slow burner, Yuck throw out the harsh factors and create a wonderfully layered instrumentation on Suck, Stutter and Rose Gives A Lily, displaying their pop influences in abundance. The jubilant opening of Georgia screams the same lead as The Cure's Friday I'm In Love and is Yuck at their most colourful, placing a web over all the songs for a cohesive long player. Yuck is the kind of band that should remind us to turn to local scenes once in a while for inspiration, as their music breathes an underrated and innocent heartiness that can be found around Australia and is often overlooked for something far more intricate and overdone. Monika Laskowski