Music: York Redoubt: York Redoubt

Our Take

It is rare for me to get excited about indie rock these days. The issue isn’t necessarily that there isn’t a lot of it available, but simply that a lot of the groups who try their hand at the style sound exactly the same. So imagine my surprise when I gave the self titled debut LP from York Redoubt a spin and was met with a combination of catchy modern indie rock and very retro sounding psychedelic rock along with some other elements that seemed to be heading off in its own direction rather than fitting in with the crowd. And when you consider that these songs also have some catchy hooks, you end up with an album well worth paying attention to.

Though some of the songs on this album may have an indie rock base or begin as a straightforward indie rock track, it doesn’t take long before they begin to offer twists and turns and combine a variety of different styles. For the most part, York Redoubt’s instrumentalists move between more modern sounding arrangements and ones that have a very retro style thanks to their super spacey and psychedelic riffs. But there are also some surprising moments throughout, such as on the song “Division” that dives into noise rock territory. These guys are definitely great songwriters, as they always focus on creating hooks that will keep listeners interested while still managing to do something different on every single track. This is a rare quality these days, and it should give the band enough of an edge to really make a name for themselves in the genre.

The vocals on York Redoubt’s debut are very melodic and at times have a psychedelic sound to them as they blend in with the instrumentals and don’t always stand on their own. It is clear that this element of the group’s music has been mostly influenced by older rather than newer acts as at times the vocalist gives the music a 60’s/70’s vibe and definitely seems to have listened to plenty of music from that time period. Though the instrumentals do occasionally get pretty noisy, the vocals stay fairly light and this proves to be a good thing as they are definitely catchy throughout.

York Redoubt has the potential to become a major success, especially considering that they are able to blend a variety of different styles together and manage to keep things interesting. If you’re like me and have been feeling like indie rock is getting stale, do yourself a favor and check this album out as it may convince you that there is still genuine talent out there. Hopefully it won’t be long before we hear from this group again, as they definitely have some great ideas.

http://www.hotmoneyrecords.com/

Chris Dahlberg
October 12, 2009