the young - chrome cactus

music reviewing post y2k suffers from a regurgitation problem.  everyone decides whether they like album for superfluous reasons and then proceeds to praise or demolish said lp based solely upon the one sheet that comes with their review copy.  so an album sounds like this..."FILL IN THE BLANK"... "I love it.  It's the new thing!!!!" Or "I hate it because it sounds like "FILL IN THE BLANK!!!!! Yeah, it's a terrible mix of these said bands and not worth yer time."  

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PEOPLE ACTUALLY LISTENING TO AN ALBUM A FEW TIMES BEFORE THEY JUST DECIDED THE RECORD LABEL THAT PUT IT OUT WAS RIGHT (OR HORRIBLY WRONG) AND TELLING EVERYONE WHAT THEY NEED TO LISTEN TO??????

but does anyone really dig into those grooves and form their own opinion????  few and far between.  and that my friend is sad.  

well i still do and one album that caught me by surprise and off guard is the CHROME CACTUS by THE YOUNG, out next week on MATADOR.  by the looks of it, it would seem little too mainstream for my tastes now days, but UPON LISTENING to CHROME CACTUS, i've become HOOKED!!!!!

this austin texas quartet is resolutely stubborn about being a GUITAR ROCK BAND in a time when that's become passe in most people's eyes.   and their messy mix of POST PUNK UNDERGROUND ROCK AND PRE GRUNGE GUITAR ANTICS, COMPLETE WITH IN YER FACE RIFFS AND A HAZY SWIRL OF SHOEGAZING FEEDBACK is a trip back to a time when becoming a infatuated with a band was not about PRETENSION and HYPE.   THE YOUNG's third album is a refreshing mix of MEAT PUPPETS, SONIC YOUTH, RIDE, VOLCANO SUNS, HUSKER DU, SEBADOH, POLVO, MBV, SLINT, MUDHONEY, CHAVEZ and any number of mostly forgotten late eighties / early nineties RnR bands that flew below the radar.........

spin after spin, the heavy guitar racket on CHROME CACTUS becomes almost psychedelic, the slower burning shoegaze bent anthems become seared into yer skull and the volume knob on yer stereo will slowly inch towards 10......and at full blast and three or four times in, the subtly of the YOUNG's songwriting will become more than apparent.   THESE ARE SONGS THAT NEED TO BE UNRAVELLED BY REPEAT LISTENS.  

perhaps that's why some reviewers of CHROME CACTUS have stuck the one sheet.  or stated how much they hate this lp.  because like any good rock album, CHROME CACTUS is not all surface.  it has depth that requires an attention span to get to.  and not many people have that these days.

FOR THOSE WILLING TO TAKE THE PLUNGE, it's worth it.  just as rewarding as any new album by DEERHUNTER, THE MEN, PURLING HISS, METZ, NIGHT BEATS and THE BLACK ANGELS....

but you know, decide for yerself....

AND LISTEN TO TWO TRACKS OFF CHROME CACTUS BELOW AND GRAB YER COPY FROM MATADOR HERE!!!!!!!