Young The Giant - Young The Giant

Sameer Gadhia, vocalist for California's Young The Giant, sounds a lot like Chris Martin. Not that it's a bad thing. I thought those first two Coldplay albums were brilliant, and there's even moments on their later albums that aren't too bad. Where Coldplay went wrong was in believing their own hype. So many sold out stadiums told them they were the next U2 so Chris Martin decided he needed to be the next Bono. Personally I think one was more than enough.


Some things in music baffle me. I don't know why it's okay to like Ida Maria's I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked, but not to love Katy Perry's Hot n Cold (I vastly prefer the latter, for the record). I don't know why Gwen Stefani is a massive star, and Shirley Manson can't get the record label to put out her solo album. I expect to be baffled by the obscurity of Young The Giant.


I hope I'm wrong. I hope rather than their best hopes being getting a song into the bottom half of Triple J's Hottest 100 that they fill stadiums. Maybe playing Splendour In The Grass will be enough to get people switched on to their music. I hope this because this album is full of stadium sized songs.


Many bands write songs that can fill stadium songs, and then once they do they start writing songs for the stadiums, and not for the music. Kings Of Leon are guilty of this, but they're not the only transgressors. Young The Giant aren't writing for anything but the music, but these songs would sound so at home in those massive arenas.


There's a number of artists in the MOR adult contemporary bucket. Artists like Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Elbow. They write songs with great hooks, inoffensive lyrics, and powerful emotion. Young The Giant are as good as many and better than most. Even their quieter songs seem big.


I haven't really talked much about the songs, but they're good. Apartment is what drew me here in the first place, My Body is catchy as hell, God Made Man slow builds to a massive euphoric release, Cough Syrup is pretty but still maintains a driving rhythm, Garands can only be described as bombastic.


I really hope I'm wrong, and that these guys get the exposure and following they deserve, and if they ever do I can say I told you so. But if they never break and just continue working along at their current level I'll keep buying their albums, as long as they keep making them this good.