Young Galaxy Young Galaxy by: Adam Davy Mon:16-Jul-07 Label: Arts & Crafts Year: 2007 WB rating 53 out of 100

You’re all undoubtedly aware that in the last decade, Canada’s Montreal has again emerged as one of the most important crests on the current indie music wave, propelling the likes of The Dears, Stars, and of course Arcade Fire onto the I-pods of fine music connoisseurs around the world. You’re also probably just as familiar with the notion that the music industry will often do all they can to cash in on what they perceive to be a lucrative market trend. If you are aware of both these things, then it should really come as no surprise that record labels would be eager to sign any Montreali with a guitar and an apparent penchant for the somber, yet forcefully insightful tone that has come to be associated with many of the scene’s most successful exports.

And so it has come to pass, that almost certainly as a direct consequence of the aforementioned factors, Young Galaxy have released their eponymous debut record. As is proclaimed on the band’s website, “Young galaxies don’t just appear”, and to be fair, Young Galaxy have arguably earned their stripes, with band members Catherine McCandless and Stephen Ramsey having previously played as guest musicians for other bands in the area, including always interesting label-mates, Stars. Considering this background, any review of Young Galaxy’s debut must start with some inevitable questions: has this band managed to develop their own distinctive style within a dense and talented scene, do they manage to escape the shadow of those that have come before them?

Unfortunately, the answer is seemingly a no on both accounts. Although certainly not shamelessly derivative, their sound can hardly be considered distinctive either, and comparisons with other aforementioned artists are easily made. Furthermore, aside from brief glimpses of refined brilliance, Young Galaxy also add very little of enduring worth to an already well established musical scene.

However, the most disappointing thing about Young Galaxy is that although the album is generally pleasant enough for the better part of an hour, the band fails to sustain their own lofty standards, so impressively established on the album’s opening track, ‘Swing Your Heartache’. Originally released last year as a single, ‘Swing Your Heartache’ was an excellent song then, and is still unquestionably the strongest composition on offer on this debut record. As an opening track, this beautiful exploration of emotional pain and endurance strikes an appealing balance that is equal parts melancholy and melody, and its inclusion on this album is of course a no-brainer.

Yet the trouble with not just having crafted such a cracking song, but also using it as an entry point into your debut album, is that it sets such an enormous expectation for the remainder of the record, and unfortunately for both Young Galaxy and us, Young Galaxy never again reaches the giddy heights of ‘Swing Your Heartache’. Consequently, subsequent tracks that are reasonably solid efforts in their own right end up feeling somewhat underdone by comparison with the album’s opener. Despite the occasional highlight, such as the loping, yet delicate incessancy of ‘Lazy Religion’, the album generally feels like a disappointment, and certainly by the second half, with increasingly little differentiation between the tracks, the whole affair begins to unravel and drag quite noticeably.

Attempts to reinvigorate the record with layered instrumental landscapes on the closing track come far too late to salvage interest. Thus ‘The Alchemy Between Us’ almost irritates because it not only serves as an unsatisfying and inconclusive finale, but it ultimately reaffirms that all along Young Galaxy had the capacity to do much more with those tracks on the album that feel so lacking in form, direction and/or content.

Perhaps the biggest problem posed by Young Galaxy is that it presents itself as an expansive, multilayered exploration of such existential issues as free will and liberty, when in essence the final product often strikes the listener as little more than an oversimplification of a complex theme, that is for the most part poorly articulated within a musical framework that not only often lacks substance, but is also obviously overreaching at this particular point in the band’s development.

Therefore, as a debut record, Young Galaxy is probably best described as “okay”. Its heritage in the local music scene of Montreal is obvious throughout, and although it only occasionally falters, there is a definite sense that the album is somewhat underdone. Aside from the opening track, there is really little of significant interest to recommend on Young Galaxy, so if you want to appreciate the best Young Galaxy currently has to offer, without having to endure the often disappointing aftermath that is the remainder of their debut album, then it is highly recommended you leave Young Galaxy on the shelf and try and locate an earlier release of the Swing Your Heartache single instead.

Although this debut is not a complete disaster, it is not necessarily indicative of what the band can conceivably create. It will be interesting to see if Young Galaxy can continue to draw on the seemingly endless well of creative energy that is flowing out of Montreal at the moment, and prove that faith in their potential is not unwarranted.