Review: Young The Giant's "Strange" New Album
Disclaimer: I almost always change my opinion (generally towards the direction of favorability) on albums after a few listens. Thus, this initial, first-listen reaction from me should be taken with a grain of salt, as there's a good chance I will hold a different view 3 months from now.
That being said, though I really wanted to love Young The Giant's newest venture, I just didn't. Or so I thought, when I had made my mind up midway through listening to "Home Of The Strange." Then after a few more songs, it was my favorite new album. Then, a couple songs later, I was back to being negatively disposed to it.
This, essentially, is my first impression of "Home Of The Strange": much more so than Young the Giant's first two albums, its quality hinges on each individual song. Its highs are found in catchy funk rock songs that offer interesting lyricism, and slow, harmonious introspective tracks. Its lows are loud, crashing, tutorials in overproduction, and demure, stagnant tunes whose lyrics do nothing to advance the quality.
As previously mentioned, I wanted to love this album. Young the Giant, I would say, is in my musical "Second Tier." The Second Tier means they're not my all-time favorites, I wouldn't dish out hundreds upon hundreds to see them in concert, but of the lesser-known groups and artists I listen to, I hold them in high regard. I mean, my first music review for Calvin College's Chimes (the last publication I wrote for) was about Young the Giant's second album, "Mind Over Matter." Moreover, everything led me to believe I would be blown away by this record. First, there were the singles themselves: I had been listening to "Something To Believe In," "Titus Was Born," and "Silvertongue" on repeat in the days leading up to HOTS's release. Secondly, NPR's interview with lead singer Sameer Gadhia centered around the album's themes of the immigrant experience in America. And if there's one thing your boy loves, it's profound lyrics, preferably those of a socio-political manner!
However, where the band's first two albums grabbed me and won me over right away, "Home Of The Strange" instead left me feeling, well, strange. While I wholeheartedly endorse musical experimentation, there are more than one instances on this record that said experimentation instead resulted in a cluttered mess, and just simply didn't seem to fit the group's mold. "Mr. Know-It-All" and "Jungle Youth," for example, lost my interest by the first chorus, due to their cavalcade of sound; loud guitars and drums and shouted lyrics amounted more to noise than to music itself. And though "Repeat" was a nice tune, Gadhia's cooing and somewhat vapid lyrics did little to impress me. "Young The Giant" (the album) and "Mind Over Matter" had very little deadweight. This album has at least two clear candidates for songs that could meet the chopping block.
But "Home Of The Strange" has more working for it than against it! I already mentioned the three singles that preceded HOTS's release, all of them addicting or musically fascinating ("Titus"). What's more, though I worried about this, the album is not dominated by those singles, either. "Elsewhere" plays as if Interpol were collaborating with Coldplay circa Rush Of The Blood To The Head, which is to say, it's a dark, mysterious and delightful song. The soft chorus of "Art Exhibit" could bring someone to tears. I know this because it brought me to tears. Significantly, the album closes on a high note, following "Silvertongue" and "Art Exhibit" with a one-two punch of "Nothing's Over" and "Home Of The Strange," two uptempo, catchy, and wholly original tracks.
Perhaps most importantly: the LYRICS. Two and a half years ago, I ended my review of Young The Giant's second album by saying, "If Young The Giant could add [profound and thought-provoking lyrics to their already inventive music], I believe they could be a powerhouse on the alternative rock scene." I'm happy to say that I still believe this, and that Young The Giant took a massive step in that direction. Gadhia told NPR that "Home Of The Strange" most directly pertains to "[his] narrative as a first-generation American," and this is evident in the title track as well as in "Something To Believe In." Both songs have to do with wrestling with the middle ground between traditional heritage and the promise of a new land, and breaking free of cultural and societal expectations. Perhaps the most profound lyric can be found in the opening song, "Amerika":
"Always talking about one day in America. Same old story. You want glory, son. I've been looking for so long."
As Gadhia explains, "the second that you feel like you may or may not belong to the place that you call home, the rug gets pulled under you and you realize that you're different." In an era in which immigrants in America have every right to feel fearful and cast apart, this musical experience could prove insightful for our non-immigrant population and commiserative for our immigrant population.
That alone is reason to give this album a try. But it doesn't hurt that-- despite some snoozers --there is some damn good music in there as well.