''Stranger Things'' is the third and final studio album by UK-based
indie rock band
Yuck, released on Mamé Records on 26 February 2016.
The album was produced by frontman Max Bloom over a period of several months in 2015 in his parents' house in London.
The album's release was preceded by three singles: "Hold Me Closer";
"Hearts in Motion";
and "Cannonball".
Background and recording
In April 2013, original lead singer and guitarist Daniel Blumberg left the band. Guitarist Max Bloom subsequently took over duties as
frontman
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
and the band was joined by guitarist Ed Hayes as an official member that August. Yuck released its sophomore studio album ''
Glow & Behold
''Glow & Behold'' is the second album by Yuck. It is the band's first album without former lead singer and guitarist Daniel Blumberg.
Reception
The album received mixed reviews. Most reviewers saw the loss of the band's former frontman as piv ...
'' on
Fat Possum Records on 30 September 2013 to mixed reviews.
After touring in support of ''Glow & Behold'', the band self-released the ''
Southern Skies EP'' in April 2014. Yuck signed with
indie label Mamé Records in 2015 and released the single "Hold Me Closer" on 8 July via
SoundCloud the same year.
On 12 January 2016, Yuck announced the album title as ''Stranger Things''
and release date of 26 February.
The same day, Yuck revealed the album artwork, released the second single, "Hearts in Motion", and announced a North American spring tour.
In an accompanying press release, Bloom stated: "
he band
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
basically spent no money on the record and it was a really relaxed way of doing things
The album was recorded in London primarily in Bloom's parents' house
where Yuck had previously recorded its 2011
self-titled debut album.
The band recorded the drum tracks at a nearby rehearsal studio.
The band posted a video announcing pre-orders for the album on its official YouTube channel three days later.
On 2 February 2016, "Cannonball" was released as the third single from the album.
Composition
''Stranger Things'' is a departure from the softer,
shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
-esque sound of the ''Southern Skies EP''. The album was inspired by "UK
postpunk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...
"
and 90's alternative rock bands such as
Dinosaur Jr. and
Built to Spill.
Max Bloom described the songs "Swirling", "Like a Moth", and "I'm OK" as "remarkably gentle"
and referred to the latter as "a very personal song because it's just about the anxiety I've been feeling over the last couple of years
Bassist Mariko Doi performs lead vocals on the song "As I Walk Away", which, according to Bloom, was "quite influenced" by her solo work.
[Wiseman, Stewart (22 January 2016). "Interview with Max Bloom from Yuck." Northern Transmissions. Retrieved 6 February 2016] Chris DeVille from
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
favorably compared "Hearts in Motion" to ''
Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
''Transmissions from the Satellite Heart'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released in 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. The album marked the departure of Jonathan Donahue (to Mercury Rev) and Nathan Roberts, and the ...
''-era
Flaming Lips, while Tom Breihan from the same website described "Cannonball" as "a blazing, amped-up blast of fuzz-guitar tunefulness
Writing for the
webzine ''Overblown'', Jamie Coughlan referred to the lead single "Hold Me Closer" as "euphoric".
Release and promotion
On 17 February 2016, about a week before the album's official release, ''Stranger Things'' became available for
streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
via ''
NPR''.
The previous day, Yuck uploaded a live performance of "Hearts in Motion", with James Thomas from Parakeet (Mariko Doi's side-project) temporarily filling in for Jonny Rogoff on drums. The band announced spring tour dates in the United Kingdom in support of the album
and uploaded a short promotional comedic video on YouTube of the band member's fathers recommending purchasing the album.
Critical reception
''Stranger Things'' has received mixed to positive reviews. On
Metacritic, the album has a normalized score of 62 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
El Hunt from ''
DIY'' gave ''Stranger Things'' four out of five stars, writing "Yuck craft their most immediate, and inescapable record to date
Jesse Nee-Vogelman from ''
Slant'' gave the album a negative review, calling the album "often little more than a poor imitation of
uck'searlier sound."
In a mixed review for ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'', Pierre John Felcenloben cited an "overemphasis on influences" that made the record "more recognizably likeable than imaginative."
Track listing
Personnel
;Yuck
*Max Bloom – lead vocals, guitar
*Mariko Doi – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "As I Walk Away"
*Ed Hayes – guitar
*Jonny Rogoff – drums
References
{{Authority control
2016 albums
Yuck (band) albums