:
'
.. .:.... . ' '
______________ : ________ : '
\ / .. .:. .. \ / : :
\ /_________ \ / . .. ... .. . :
.\ / /___ /\ \ / ______________ ___ _.
: \ / / \ / \ \/ / \ \ \ \ \
. ...:..\ / _______/ \/ \ ___/__ / / / / /
: /\ / / \ \/ \ / / / . sH!
' / \/ / / / \ / / . ... .:.... .. .
:/ _______/ / / / _______/__ ___ __
.\ / / / / / / / / / / /
\ / / / / / / / / / / / .
. \ /\______/ / / / / \___ / / :
\/ ____ \ / / / / / :
\ / \ /\____/\ / / : :
________\/ \ / \ / / : '
\ / \/ \ /\ / : . ..:.. .
\ / \/ \ /
\ / \ / . '
: \/ F A N G \ / : '
____ \ / . . .. .. .:.. .
\ / presents \ / .
. \/ \/ :
: .
..:.. ,
: Artist......: Yard Act
: Album.......: The Overload :
: Label.......: Zen F.C. / Island .. .:.. .
Genre.......: Rock :
Catnr.......: ZENFC005CD .
' Source......: CD ,
; Rip.date....: 2022-02-06
Str.date....: 2022-01-21
Quality.....: 263kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo . :..
.:. Url.........: http://yardactors.com '
' ,
________ ________
\ / \ /
\ / \ /
\ / # title time \ /
\/ \/
1. The Overload 3:15
2. Dead Horse 3:38
3. Payday 2:54
4. Rich 3:42
5. The Incident 3:10
6. Witness 1:20
7. Land of the Blind 3:00
8. Quarantine the Sticks 2:40
9. Tall Poppies 6:21
10. Pour Another 3:20
11. 100% Endurance 3:45
______
\ / ________ Runtime 37:05
,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 73.32 ______
:\/ ', \ / , \ /
' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /.
: Release Notes: \/ , \/ ,
' '
,: There's no shortage of comparisons for Yard Act's Brexit-era :,
: post-punk. It's hard to resist all these groups channeling :
:' post-punk history to convey the tension of a fractured Britain ':
,: while making noisy political music safe enough for Edgar Wright :,
: and FIFA soundtracks. But how many of these bands met Cillian :
:' Murphy on the set of Peaky Blinders years before releasing ':
,: their debut? In a crowded field, the Leeds supergroup of Post :,
: War Glamour Girls' James Smith, Menace Beach's Ryan Needham, Sam :
:' Shjipstone, and Jay Russell just feels a little slicker and ':
,: more fashionable than the competition. Their Coachella-safe take :,
: on The Fall - clever, jittery, and unapologetically British - :
:' has the humor, polish, and character-driven storytelling of ':
,: classic Britpop. What they'd really like is for you to compare :,
: them to Pulp. :
:' ':
,: It's not unwarranted. On the strength of 2021's Dark Days EP - :,
: which, one year later, sounds like a concept album about :
:' "Remember when Johnny Marr was in Modest Mouse?" - Yard Act ':
,: signed to Island, the same label that released Pulp's :,
: major-label debut. Elton John became a fan. So did notable :
:' post-punk scholar Ed Sheeran. Cue the up-and-comer appearances ':
,: in NME and DIY, on the BBC and Jools Holland. Smith, a :,
: frontperson who values a good narrative, seems to encourage the :
:' Britpop comparisons in interviews just so he can laugh them off ':
,: (and shout out Orange Juice and Postcard Records instead). How :,
: you feel that he shares the same last name as Mark E. Smith - :
:' fun happenstance, insufferable media bait, a shrug - will ':
,: probably tell you how much you'll enjoy what Yard Act is :,
: selling. :
:' ':
,: But in a lean 37 minutes, The Overload earns its hype. It's a :,
: confident debut LP from a young band seizing its moment and :
:' cutting the tension with a chuckle. They're clearly aiming for ':
,: something big. The ambition doesn't always work, and the attempt :,
: to manifest a Yard Act extended universe yields mixed results. :
:' But it's easy to root for a band whose failure to write a new ':
,: "Common People" lands closer to "Darts of Pleasure." :,
: :
:' Dark Days had Smith rushing to spit out all his words as the ':
,: band flexed their post-punk chops and Leeds-specific sense of :,
: rhythm and groove (see contemporaries like Galaxians and Big :
:' Softy). The Overload is still, indeed, wiry and angular. But ':
,: now Smith (who's credited with 50 percent of songwriting, :,
: alongside Needham and Shjipstone) and producer Ali Chant (PJ :
:' Harvey, Perfume Genius, Algiers) turn down the band's fury to ':
,: make room for Smith to perform a classic post-punk archetype: :,
: the despondent, overcoat-wearing sloganeer who mocks his peers :
:' and uses privilege to attack privilege. He's too educated to ':
,: start a riot, but young enough to support one. What we lose in :,
: velocity, we gain in clarity. :
:' ':
,: Smith has hinted that his outlandish characters recur across :,
: different songs, but it's inconsequential whether the :
:' insufferable "Could he be a Leaver?" narrator from Dark Days' ':
,: "Fixer Upper" is the same insufferable narrator of this album's :,
: title track. The fun is in the one-liners, like when Smith :
:' screams, "If you don't challenge me on anything, you'll find ':
,: that I'm actually very nice. Are you listening? I'm actually :,
: very fucking nice!" On "The Incident," he plays a white-collar :
:' crook who says, "I'm hellbent on expanding my heaven-sent ':
,: empire, ethically," like he's ordering a latte. He's having a :,
: grand time on "Rich," picking on the anti-capitalist who comes :
:' into some capital and immediately changes the narrative to ':
,: justify their own advancement. Even when the lyrics don't work, :,
: like in the obvious England metaphor "Dead Horse," the band :
:' tries to make the ranting sound compelling. ':
,: :,
: The Overload's best moment might be its most restrained. While :
:' IDLES' signature village song is full of racist idiots, "Tall ':
,: Poppies" zooms in on one villager: a promising and handsome :,
: football captain who, for reasons unclear, never leaves home and :
:' trades his athletic gifts for a career in real estate. In comes ':
,: a promotion, a mortgage, a marriage, a dog, children, and a :,
: vacation home in Costa del Sol. He can still play football on :
:' the side (he knows he's still got it), and hey, his town now ':
,: has an authentic Italian restaurant. The lyrics convey happy :,
: compromise. The music implies restlessness, growing looser and :
:' more uneasy as the footballer moves through marriage ':
,: counseling, grandchildren, and an increasingly frightening :,
: feeling: Is this all there is? The whole village comes to his :
:' funeral. Smith then reveals himself to be the late footballer's ':
,: friend, viewing the deceased's life as a question: Is the goal :,
: to live so that after we die, nobody speaks ill of us? Is it :
:' better to lead a small yet safe life involved in our ':
,: communities, or to live big and in constant awareness of our :,
: insignificance? Does it matter? :
:' ':
,: The success of "Tall Poppies" - and the best moments on The :,
: Overload - is that it's up to the listener to decide if these :
:' characters are sad sacks falling short of their full potential ':
,: or decent human beings feeling thankful for their small :,
: existences. It's a short-story delivery worthy of Jarvis Cocker, :
:' and the nuance and empathy that dares to ask these questions in ':
,: a post-punk song make Yard Act the real deal. :,
: :
:' ':
: '
'.. ..'
.. . :........... . . . . ............: . .
______________ ______________
\ / \ /
\ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ /
\ / \ /
\ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ /
\ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ /
\ / \ /
\/ ____ ____ \/
\ / F A N G \ /
\/ 2 0 2 2 \/