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Avg: 4.0 (20 ratings)
- Date Released: June 20, 2006
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Yep Roc Records / Redeye
Aussie grunge rock boasts glorious melodies and an appealing, bleary wit.
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We Say...
One of the brightest of the newer breed of left-field Australian rock bands, You Am I gestated as one of the uncountable global plague of somewhat hapless grunge groups inspired into being by Nirvana. While assorted Seattle ghosts still haunt this 2006 release, "Convicts" is very much the sound of a band confident enough to sound like themselves: the previously over-exuberant guitars are harnessed in the service of some glorious melodies ("It Ain't Funny How We Don't Talk Anymore" is a thrilling evocation of those all-too-rare moments when Sonic Youth allowed an actual tune loose on their records) and the writing of singer Tim Rogers is riddled with an appealing, bleary wit, flourished most obviously on the (uncharacteristically) downbeat, deadpan country ballad one track from the end: as a simile for alcohol-induced incoherence, rock & roll may have to wait a while for someone to beat "The words are drowning in the liquor again/It's like explaining cricket to Americans."
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They Say...
The Australian juggernaut's first release in four years is a short (36-minute), sharp and succinct collection that continues the band's snappy punk-pop attack. Despite the group's illustrious history, at least in its homeland where the act has set a record for three consecutive number one albums since 1992, this is old-fashioned, scrappy garage rock with enough snotty punk influences to attract the hardcore faithful and plenty of melody to possibly coax some radio play from stations that added Green Day to their play lists. The disc explodes out of the gate with the roughed up, double time "Thank God I've Hit the Bottom," all one-minute-and-fifty-one seconds of it, but then catches its breath with a slightly more restrained but no less intense Cheap Trick-styled rocker "It Ain't Funny How We Don't Talk Anymore." Singer/songwriter/vocalist Tim Rogers' clever lyrics are firmly in place and he inserts them in songs that occasionally bring Give 'Em Enough Rope-era Clash influences to his established Replacements' style song structures. The Who and the Kinks are further references, the latter on slower selections such as the strummy "Secrets," the following track "Thuggery" and especially the Brit-pop-isms of "Explaining Cricket." Consistently energetic playing, sturdy hooks and Rogers' spunky talk-singing -- somewhat like an angrier Tom Petty -- propel these songs and push them past their obvious influences. Straightforward yet effective vocal harmonies on simple Stonesy rockers such as "The Sweet Life" (at four-minutes-and-twenty seconds, it's the album's longest tune) show the band's maturity even when the melodies are rudimentary. Individually, the songs probably won't bowl you over, at least on the initial listen, but the overall effect is of a seasoned yet still brash rock band doing its job with verve, self-confidence and gusto. Even 14 years into its existence, You Am I is capable of some surprises, but most impressive is how much they sound like edgy guys in their early twenties who love and live for rock & roll. At this relatively late stage of their career, that's a huge accomplishment.
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| 01. |  |
Thank God I've Hit the Bottom |
1:52 |
|
| 02. | |
It Ain't Funny How We Won't Talk Anymore |
2:29 |
|
| 03. | |
Friends Like You |
2:25 |
|
| 04. | |
A Nervous Kid |
2:18 |
|
| 05. | |
Secrets |
4:04 |
|
| 06. | |
Thuggery |
2:14 |
|
| 07. | |
By My Own Hand |
3:00 |
|
| 08. | |
The Sweet Life |
4:20 |
|
| 09. | |
Gunslingers |
3:42 |
|
| 10. | |
Constance George |
1:40 |
|
| 11. | |
Explaining Cricket |
4:11 |
|
| 12. | |
I'm a Mess |
3:57 |
|
12 Total Tracks, 36:12 Total Length
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Credits
- Steve Smart - Mastering // Andy Kent - Group Member // Tim Rogers - Group Member // Russell Hopkinson - Group Member // Greg Wales - Producer // Greg Wales - Engineer // Greg Wales - Mixing // Rebecca Barnard - Voices // Adam Simmons - Sax (Baritone) // Adam Simmons - Sax (Tenor) // Jason Lea - ? // Ian Kitney - Voices // Russell Fawcus - ? // Peter Knight Singers - Trumpet // Cameron Blanch - ? // Jodie Wallis - ? // Callum Barter - ?
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