young adult - Genevieve

Young Adult

Genevieve
self-released; 2014

3.9 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

It wasn’t too long ago that we reviewed Castles by Young Adult and they have already released a new four-song EP entitled Genevieve. If you aren’t familiar with their work the three-piece makes certifiable indie rock that lies somewhere in between Real Estate and Death Cab for Cutie. The guitars are clean with a decent amount of reverb while the bass and drum often feel removed. That’s a good thing in my opinion as the bass rarely just follows the root notes. 

Cody Gray is the vocalist/bassist and has an inoffensive almost comforting tone to his voice. It works great within the context of the music and is a pleasure to listen to. 

The EP kicks off with “Good Morning,” which is a great choice for an opener because of the overall feel and structure. You hear a bright guitar and what sounds like the sustain of an organ before a formidably fast bass line enters into the equation, which signifies a shift in momentum right before the drums kick in with a wonderful guitar line. They establish an upbeat energy that surges through your body. Gray paints a picture with a narrative. He sings, “When you left my bed / To get to work by 8am / I smelled your coffee breath / And breathed you in / When your shift is finally through I'll be coming home to you / With D-grade films and Chinese food.” It sucks that his girl has coffee breath and he breathed it in but hey we’re all human, right. 

“I Was A Tourist” has no build up and goes right into the three guys banging out a solid riff together. A solid song all around, although his vocals were a bit too low in the mix at times. The highlight for me was “Drag.” I thought Gray delivered his best vocal performance here and it definitely got stuck in my head. He almost sounded like Morrissey at points when he sings, “It took all that I had / To leave the best last week / And get out of my head.”

They close with the most rocking song on the album entitled “Widow.” They blast through a couple of riffs where the guitars have a bit more crunch than we’re used to.

This is another very solid effort from Young Adult. Fans of Wild Nothing, Real Estate and Death Cab For Cutie will thoroughly enjoy this. 

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