Review: Superabundance by The Young Knives

The Young Knives occupy a very peculiar spot in current British indie. They’re certainly not some sort of underground cult act, as their Mercury Prize nomination will testify. They get print space in most of the UK’s major music magazines and there was even a “buzz” around them prior to the release of their 2006 debut LP “Voices of Animals and Men”. However, they still lack far behind most of their indie post-punk revival contemporises, with their singles never getting any higher than the low end of the Top 40 and an alarming number of journalists still harping on about the fact they wear tweed and look kinda geeky. This week saw the UK release of their second album, Superabundance. Like most the UK’S 05 post-punk revival bands that returned last year with beefed up follow ups (e.g. Bloc Party, Editors, Maximo Park) Superabundance sees the expected inclusion of strings, horns and higher class production. However, whilst bands like Bloc Party turned to Jacknife Lee to sprinkle pop-radio dust on their sound, the Young Knives have turned to Mogwai and Belle & Sebastian (and I’m sure a whole load of bands who aren’t Scottish) producer Tony Doogan to create a far darker, slightly more complex, somewhat experimental sound than the likes of A Weekend In The City or An End Has A Start. As a result, it is probably the most rewarding – and just generally well crafted – sophomore album from a British band in a very long time indeed. The Young Knives still work with the base disco-beat drumming, prominent bass and spiky guitars of pretty much every song they’ve done, but it definitely sounds bigger on this album. The strings are used quite sparingly, and definitely not in what could be called the “Bitter Sweet Symphony” way - and no, I don’t mean “nicking it off The Rolling Stones”, I mean the “just using strings to make a shit song sound good” way. Instead, the strings on tracks like Turn Tail are used to add a sense of majesty to the hellish rumblings around them (key line in the song: “We’re all slaves on this ship/This ship is sinking”) whilst on the slightly disturbing Flies, which is seemingly about being eaten by the annoying little insects, the strings add an unnerving edge that slowly creeps up higher and higher into the mix.Elsewhere, the band don’t rely on orchestral flourishes to switch their sound up – no, they just rely on good ole’ rocking out. Counters and Light Switch both rip it up with fast and furious riffs which are underpinned by House of Lords’ (fabulous name, ain’t it?) nervous bass lines. The experimentalism with their base sound leads them to the early Blur-like head rush of Rue the Days, which can be described as “baggy”, as well as the soft psychedelic touches on tracks like I Can Barely See Them and the closing duo of Mummy Light The Fire and Current Of The River. It’s a shame that these two don’t have as immediate effect as other tracks on the album and even I as an ardent Young Knives fan have to admit I wasn’t blown away by the album’s final tracks (partly because there’s a fucking hidden track).However, what is interesting about these final tracks is that their moody atmospherics perfectly match the lyrical concept of the album. Whilst there’s still plenty of catchy chorus’, they usually come in the form of lines like “Sitting in the front/Turning on the motor/Sucking on a hosepipe” (Counters), “What’s the point?/ What’s the point?/ What’s the point?” (Up All Night) and, probably more bizarre than depressing, “Fake rabbit!/Real Snake!/Terra Firma!” (Terra Firma, the strange choice of lead single). The Young Knives are defiantly pissed off at modern life, from lifetime occupations to night clubs to the weights of days past, its not exactly innovative ground. However, lead singer Henry Dartnell approaches the topics with a degree of dark humour, leading to the memorable rhyming of “headlock” and “wedlock” in Dyed In The Wool.Superabundance probably isn’t going to turn The Young Knives into chart stars who get reviewed next to Mark Ronson in those vapid glossy mags, but I’m willing to bet that isn’t the career path they have in mind. Instead, Superabundance builds on the strengths of their debut and various prior EPs and singles to create a strong set of rewarding songs that already stand out as some of best of the year (and considering this year has see amazing releases from British Sea Power, Lightspeed Champion and loads of others, that is saying something). Whilst they’ve still got plenty of work to do, they’ve managed to take a few risks in tip-toeing out of their comfort sound whilst still ending up with an engaging and enjoyable album.