The Yolks - S/T LP

The Yolks
The Yolks
(2009, Randy Records)
RIYL = The Fresh & Onlys, The Strokes, Nodzzz

Simplicity can be a risky business. On the one hand, the simplification of chords and instrumentation brought us much of the glorious pop music that started gaining momentum in the momentous sixties. The Zombies, The Who, The Velvet Underground (you know the list): They sifted gold through the most remedial means. On the other hand, the paring down of instrumental and compositional elements of a given band can also quickly reveal how truly uninspired they are when it comes to song writing. I have the feeling that with some of this recent noise pop, that the noise is a compensation for actual honest-to-goodness song writing. I think the line of thinking goes something like this: “Wow, that song is kind of sucky. Hey! What if we just turn everything up way loud and add a lot of feedback, then no one will know the difference.” Now, that doesn’t apply to everybody in that category, but you’ve got to imagine that some of these bands are running things this way. That’s were The Yolks come in. Forget about lo-fi noise pop, The Yolks are just straight bare bones retro pop and - yep, you guessed it – these three guys can actual write and play fantastically catchy, enduring songs. It’s a simple setup of guitar, bass and drums. The ground isn’t erupting over the instrumentation or the limited chords The Yolks are hashing through, but on their debut LP, the ground is erupting over the fact that they are actually pretty freakin’ great. And fun. Of course the band’s record label claims this as well, but its true, this music is full of soul, and energy and fun. This is the kind of music that forces me to open my sun roof and wish that I had some old sixties convertible to go get milk shakes in. Oh, and you’ve got to love that cover art. Solid.

-Thistle

The Yolks on MySpace