The Yacht Club - 'The Last Words That You Said To Me Have Kept Me Here And Safe' Album Revie

Tracklist:

1. Be Happy And Love Pt2

2. Heigham Park

3. Postmarks

4. Glue

5. 21

6. Get Your Damn Hands Off Her!

7. Hopeless

8. In Amber

9. Broken Things

10. Be Happy And Love Pt3

The Yacht Club's music is something quite different from my usual listening fare, displaying great musicianship, incredible instrumental proficiency and a staggering control over any excesses, the music is fascinating, to say the least, but never overblown, there are no blisteringly fast solos, however, there are some interesting arpeggiated patterns on the guitars throughout. Add to that the fact that all the guitar sounds are clean and you could simplify a description of the band by saying it was Math Rock without the distortion, but there's no screaming here either, instead there's a deft lightness of touch, a melodic approach to the vocals and a chilled, almost relaxed air to the whole thing.

The band has been around for a few years having started life as a solo project for singer/multi-instrumentalist Marcus Gooda but with much of the project's existence in flux due to an ever-changing roster, this seems now to have calmed somewhat and the band is on the cusp of a headline tour. Their songs are "about Mental Health, coping, and trying to help others find a light in the dark" (a direct quote from the band's Facebook description), with this kind of subject matter you'd be forgiven for expecting a lot of darkness and bleak world-views on this album, not the case here, the band balance the darkness of the subject matter perfectly with the music which is jaunty and uplifting enough to give anyone a lift.

I really don't quite fully understand what this band have done here, I'm normally the cynical snarky guy making a joke at cheery chirpy music, but with this album I have not experienced any urges to do that, I am absolutely along for the ride, there is enough musical intrigue to go back over and over again, enough in the lyrics to give me a lot more to analyse and scrutinise to my heart's content (if I ever get a lyric sheet for this I'll be a happy guy... hint hint...).

The Yacht Club have undoubtedly created a magnificent debut album (with an unwieldy, long title) here, well worth a listen, and enough to make me go over to Bandcamp to check out their history (how often do I dig into the archives of a band after hearing a review album for the first time?). I've not described any of the music in a great deal of detail but I will say that the album's final chant accompanied by a crescendo from the band "Be happy and Love" (sung in unison by the whole band) seems cheesy written down in the context of a review but it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, an excellent indicator that this band had drawn me into their world, an uplifting experience throughout.