Yuck
Stranger Things
(Mamé Records)

When people talk about Yuck, it’s usually in the context of the band’s influences. Before I ever heard a single song, I knew that they supposedly worshiped 90’s alternative rock. It’s not hard to see why. You can put on one of their albums and play influence bingo. “Isn’t that a Smashing Pumpkins riff?” “That guitar tone is right out of mid-period Blur.” Stranger Things is their third album though and it’s about time we discuss who they are as a band. This is, plainly, a great pop album. Melody and hooks are pushed to the forefront, bolstered by textures and guitar effects. Regardless of what type of song it is, Yuck makes sure that they’re all catchy. Sometimes that means it needs some fuzzed-out heft like in “Cannonball.” Other times, it needs to sound like it sprung from an ocean of melted-down My Bloody Valentine records like in “Swirling.” On all corners of Stranger Things, the band shows that they have some neat tricks up their sleeves. You could say that they really know how to make the most of the studio except it turns out the album was mostly recorded in front man Max Bloom’s parent’s house, which makes it even more impressive that they got the sound they did. They may owe a lot to the bands that inspired them, but so does almost every other band ever. If the title track sounds familiar to you, that’s because they’re employing a classic song structure. It’s the foundation of pop music. It’s the mark of great craft, and maybe just a little theft, to hear a song for the first time and feel like you already know it.