Younghusband “Dissolver”
One of the young bands I found scouring SXSW’s performers list was British quartet Younghusband. Like other neo-pyschedelic artists (Jacco Gardener or The Junipers comes to mind) lead vocalist-guitarist Euan Hinshelwood does a good job with melodic guitar lines framed by catchy rhythms. Opening with “Waverly Street” its a light harmony with fluid guitars underneath, similar to early Apples in Stereo, but the slower plodding followup “Heavy Expectations” has more of a Velvet Underground aesthetic.
Its the upbeat gems that will win you over like the catchy “She Lies Awake” and the densely packed gem “Blonde Bending” with its sweetly layered chorus. Sometimes a very simple arrangement like “Better Times” grows into a winner with its unexpected chord shifts. While not every song hits the melodic mark, enough do to make this a worthy investment of your time. I look forward to this young bands continued development.
The Carousels “Love Changes Like the Seasons”
2014 debut release from this eight-member Scottish band delivers impressive psychedelic folk/country songs with captivating vocal harmonies. The use of chiming 12-string guitar chords is the main accompaniment here. “(I Hope I Never) Get You Off My Back” will appeal to fans of Paul Starling and the audiophile will hear an echo of The Beatles “Please Please Me” in “Call Along The Coast.” The music is lovely and stylistically consistent but the drawback to this is that no single track stands out and it makes for homogeneous listening. The slide guitar on “Deep Mid Winter” and the Pet Sounds-like production techniques on songs like “Drifting Back” distinguish it a little better than the rest. Still its worth exploring if you love group harmonies like The Hollies, Byrds or The High Dials.
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