Wednesday, 7 August 2013

Single Review: Young Knives- ‘Oh Happiness’ (22/05/2012- Gadzook Records)


Some of the hardest grafters in the British Indie world come in the shape of Leicester’s own Young Knives- a four piece formed way back in 1998. The band originally went by the name of Simple Pastoral Existence, which only lasted 2 years until they split in 1999 and renamed themselves Ponyclub for a short period. Young Knives’ real commercial success unravelled in 2002 following the release of ‘The Young Knives…Are Dead.’ The quartet’s latest track ‘Oh Happiness’ is taken from their EP of the same name.


The track begins with bleeping, thumping sound effects that reflect their new wave success in the mid-2000s.With their eccentric attitude towards their music, use of throbbing syths and experimental sound, Young Knives illustrate their unique flair in bucket-loads. With a constant use of steady backbeats, electronic pulses and simplistic lyrics, the band have clearly got a firm grasp of their original fan base without the need for an utterly new style.

Young Knives’ vintage charm also comes across in the music video for ‘Oh Happiness’, which is made up of backlog of black and white images, mainly various women in differing successions.  The band’s BritPop influence is also obvious, which would have been an unavoidable influence considering when they began making music.


However, ‘Oh Happiness’ embraces the band’s Indie to Electo-style Pop style perfectly, but perhaps there is a reason this move has not been done before. Henry Dartnall’s vocals are also somewhat unappealing and fail to get the apathetic vibe that many singers of his generation possess. The track fails to evolve into anything ground-breaking and remains somewhat limp and repetitive throughout.

2/5

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