You Me At Six, a five-piece pop-punk band from Weybridge, England, manage to exceed expectations through this second studio album ‘Hold Me Down.’ Although some have labelled their debut ‘Take off Your Colours’ as simply another demo, I personally found it incredible. There has been a slight change in the band’s overall sound for this album, owing to their extreme success over the past few years. Countless sell-out shows, matched with thousands of loyal fans have created a more mature, skilful band. This collection of twelve tracks truly reflects the band’s growth and adaptation, both as individual musicians and collectively.
This is You Me At Six’s first major label debut, and expectations were high, yet as the band have progressed into more mainstream, melodic musicians, their general success has been flourishing indefinitely. No doubt, supporting the likes of Fall Out Boy and Paramore on tour has assisted them in clambering further up the often generic pop-punk ladder.
Polished, well-produced and punchy, ‘Hold Me Down’, begins with surround-sound police sirens and develops into a full- blown reverberation, immediately portraying that You Me At Six have discovered more of an individual sound. ‘Underdog’, which was independently released as a single in February this year, bestows an apathetic judgement on a non-specified negative occurrence ‘...just look at the mess you made...’ , which allows listeners to affix the sentiment of the song to their personal familiarities . Despite the constant inclusion of idioms, for instance, ‘revenge loves company, three makes it a crowd...’ the song remains both catchy and engaging. Although, as typical of all pop-punk bands, the overriding topic of lyrics appears to be failing relationships, in which girls are either wholly impossibly unattainable, untrustworthy, or malicious creatures, denoted by lyrics such as ‘...Safer to hate her/than love her and lose her...’, extracted from fifth track ‘Safer To Hate Her.’ This is, no doubt, influenced by their own experiences.
You Me At Six cannot be criticised for being generic, because although very American-influenced, the boys provide character to each track, which is encouraged by the album being entirely written by the band members themselves. It is fair to say, this second album is somewhat darker, mainly in lyrical approach, than their previous work, but this makes certain that ‘Hold Me Down’ is set apart from You Me At Six’s debut ‘Take Off Your Colours’. Lead vocalist Josh Franceschi is a brilliant lyricist; his rare ability of expressing his emotions in an honest, witty and occasionally tongue-in-cheek form. Jaunty tracks such as ‘Contagious Chemistry’ and ‘There’s No Such Thing...’ evoke typical teenage reactions to disloyalty ‘dearest enemy...’ whereas penultimate track ‘Trophy Eyes’ intensifies the album’s personal quality, sparking many a music fan into realising people experience similar struggles to one another ‘...Shine so bright, behind those lies...’ Something this album incorporates in abundance
is the unbeatable element of honesty found in You Me At Six's lyrics.
is the unbeatable element of honesty found in You Me At Six's lyrics.
Bulky riffs and chanty choruses make up the majority of the CD, which is deliberately blended in with more gentle, melodramatic ballads such as track 4, ‘Stay With Me’ and the final track ‘Fireworks’, which both brings a breathtaking components to the album. ‘Fireworks’ conveys emotional and sincere lyrics broadcast beautifully by the awesome vocal capabilities of the band’s frontman, twenty year old Franceschi. The track also provides a soft and steady finale, including lyrics with which any living teenager can utterly associate with, ‘’Cause I don’t know who I am...’ , terminating an often stunningly-deafening sequence of tracks.
Overall, the album appears carefully constructed, yet harsh criticisms constantly remain likely. As more alternative and indie music reaches the peaks of pop charts, there is, therefore, an improved likelihood of a band like You Me At Six gaining the success they deserve for their solid graft. Yet to become both accepted and unique, remains a continual challenge that so far, the band have administered admirably.
5/5
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