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Superabundance
by Young Knives
from Warner

Editorial Review:

Ashby-de-la-Zouche's favourite sons return with a second album of angular punk-pop songs, lyrical eccentricity, and wry observations that curl an eyebrow at English society like schoolboys gazing at ants through a magnifying glass. Whereas the Young Knives' debut album Voices of Animals and Men felt like a clever spin on the skinny guitars and lurching bass of the post-punk revival bands, Superabundance feels like a bigger, deeper record, one which finds the Young Knives adding layers of guitars, parping trumpets, and orchestral trimmings to the brew. There are further changes to the formula, too: while earlier Young Knives material felt witty and versed in the language of farce, Superabundance is a rather more melancholy, pensive affair, full of quiet disgust. "Up All Night" takes a determined sober look at late-night hedonism: "Everybody looks famous/They've been wasting lots of time/And everybody looks special/In their mind's eye". In the following "Counters", someone gasses themselves in the front seat of their car. Luckily, the Young Knives are compelling enough characters that they can carry off occasional sour vibes without coming on as crotchety old men: take "Dyed in the Wool", a heart-on-sleeve plea for simplicity that rhymes "headlock" with "wedlock" as a means of sneaking into your affections. It works, too. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• Geeks bearing gifts
  I've really fallen in love with this album after repeated listens. As many reviewers have said, it's very much an album of two halves with the first 6 tracks bearing more similarity to the post-punk influenced Voices of Animals and Men. Higlights include the wonderfully barmy Terra Firma and Light Switch both of which beneift from great basslines by Tom "House of Lords" Dartnall.
  The second half of the album contains several psychedlia influenced songs like Mummy Light The Fire and Rue The Days and the... more info

• Check the cover
  A big let down after Voices of Animals and Men. What happened to all the humour and weirdness? The album cover really sums up the music.

• Flies....All over my body
  This is a totally underrated album by the magnificent Young Knives. Its classic edgy indie rock. The first half of the album is similar to stuff found on the excellent 'Voices of Animals and Men', with a polished feel. The album gets more interesting from Turn Tail onwards. Mummy Light the Fire, with its magnificent psychedelic feel, Flies and Current of the River totally change the feel and tempo of the album, hoisting it to 'classic' in my book. There is something slightly sinister about the Knives,... more info

• A band further developing it's own particular line of strangness...
  The Young Knives, on their second album "Voices of Animals and Men", were the slightly barmy, quirky band produced by Andy "Gang of Four" Gill, who mostly "angular" in riff but lyrically not quite ready to take themselves, or life in general, that seriously.
  Sombre follow-ups to excited albums aren't uncommon (see The Futureheads) but the lyrical themes on "Superabundence" are noticeably much grimmer than on their last album. Death, suicide, fatigue with modern living and the futility of youth are all... more info

Tracks:

1. Fit 4 U
2. Terra Firma
3. Up All Night
4. Counters
5. Light Switch
6. Turn Tail
7. I Can Hardly See Them
8. Dyed In The Wool
9. Rue The Days
10. Flies
11. Mummy Light The Fire
12. Current Of The River

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