Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos (Barsuk Records)
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| Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos |
New York outfit Yellow Ostrich have
just finished a tour of the UK which is annoying as I would have recommended
that you get out to see them but instead I shall have to speak to the feet of
the gig going public of mainland Europe. This album kicks off with 'Terrors'
which is somewhere between a darker, heavier Dutch Uncles and a more accessible
Radiohead before 'Neon Fists' goes full Radiohead with an American twang.
Gorgeous stuff. 'Shades' has a gnarly, spaced out feel to the jerking guitar
riffs which is soothed only be the gentle, smooth vocals and steady percussive
shake. You could easily imagine REM or Arcade Fire pulling together an album
like this and having it hailed as a great piece of creativity so I am hoping
people heed this call and give these guys a listen. For instance, the bleak Ultravox
throb of 'My Moons' is simply beautiful stuff in the darkest of ways which
should draw in a very specific but lucrative audience.
The electronic hum that heralds
'You Are The Stars' is pure U2 at their peak but the song that follows is far
more angular, awkward and quirky to be performed by a man in a leather jump
suit and sunglasses. 'In The Dark' starts like an early morning walk on a cold,
pebbly beach before growing in to a quietly beautiful sunrise as the warmth
ripples throughout the music. But then, oh my, 'Any Wonder' comes sashaying in
like Beck in platform shoes and 'How Do You Do It', despite a slow start, turns
out to be quite the indie-pop anthem which sounds more Scottish or Irish than
it does East coast American. The album winds up with the beautifully sparse
'Things Are Fallin'' which builds to an Elbow sized climax before the closing
track 'Don't Be Afraid' gently brings the listener back down to earth like a
feather falling from a bird only to settle on soft, dewy grass. Yellow Ostrich
have a silly name, that's a given, but the music they create is borne of
passion, craft, care and attention - all qualities I wholeheartedly support.
Grand stuff.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/YellowOstrich?fref=ts
Live Dates:
10th May - Homeplugged, Brussels
11th May - Astrolabe, Orleans
12th May - La Peniche, Lille
13th May - Espace B, Paris
14th May - Bogen F, Zurich
15th May - Rotown, Rotterdam
16th May - Tivoli Spiegelbar, Utrecht
18th May - Gebaude 9, Cologne
19th May - Gruner Jager, Hamburg
20th May - About Blank, Berlin
22nd May - Stengrade, Copenhagen
23rd May - Grand Central, Stockholm