The Young Knives | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Hailing from Oxford, England, post-punk revivalists the Young Knives feature Henry Dartnall (vocals/guitar), Oliver Askew (drums), and Thomas Dartnall (bass) (aka House of Lords). The three initially started out playing Neds Atomic Dustbin songs while living in their hometown of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, but a move to Oxford in 2002 gave the Young Knives their big break. An appearance at the Truck Festival led to the band issuing The Young Knives...Are Dead mini-album for Shifty Disco in 2002. Three years later, the trio was playing shows alongside the Futureheads and Hot Hot Heat while readying their debut EP for Transgressive. The limited-edition Junky Music Make My Heart Beat Faster sold out quickly; "The Decision," which was produced by Gang of Fours Andy Gill, followed in December 2005. In the new year, the Young Knives growing popularity seemed unstoppable. Both "Here Comes the Rumour Mill" and "Shes Attracted To" made the U.K. Top 40. Additional shows with the Rakes and Dirty Pretty Things wowed the U.K., and the bands American performance debut at the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, TX, proved successful. The Young Knives debut album, Voices of Animals and Men, arrived in the U.K. in August of 2006 and in the U.S. early the next year. Superabundance followed in 2008. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: The Young Knives... Are Dead Released: 2002-10-21 Tracks: 10 Duration: 29:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Walking on the Autobahn (02:50) 2 English Rose (03:05) 3 John (02:55) 4 The Night of the Trees (02:29) 5 Grand Opening (03:41) 6 Working Hands (03:01) 7 Diamonds in the West (04:30) 8 Rollerskater (02:51) 9 So Sue Me (02:50) 10 St Petersburg Wedding (01:25) |
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: Nolens Volens Released: 2004 Tracks: 13 Duration: 48:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Bastard (01:48) 2 Weekends and Bleakdays (03:26) 3 Coastguard (04:14) 4 Scab (03:08) 5 Hippy Girl (04:04) 6 In the Pink (04:06) 7 Kramer V Kramer (04:09) 8 The Decision (04:02) 9 Dialing Darling (03:58) 10 Tailors (04:09) 11 Tremblings of Trails (03:58) 12 We Are the Also Rans (03:24) 13 Murder the Otter (04:01) |
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Voices of Animals and Men Released: 2006-07-01 Tracks: 14 Duration: 44:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Part Timer (02:55) 2 The Decision (03:24) 3 Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer) (02:48) 4 In the Pink (03:15) 5 Mystic Energy (02:53) 6 Here Comes the Rumour Mill (03:41) 7 Tailors (04:03) 8 Half Timer (01:39) 9 Shes Attracted To (03:06) 10 Dialing Darling (02:59) 11 Another Hollow Line (03:42) 12 Coastguard (03:01) 13 Loughborough Suicide (03:56) 14 Tremblings of Trails (03:20) |
| Voices of Animals and Men : Allmusic album Review : The Young Knives full-length debut cleans up and commercializes the punk revival sounds they explored on their mini-LP The Young Knives...Are Dead. Like so many of the new British rock bands of their time, the group display a heavy Gang of Four influence, and as might be expected for a major-label group of this ilk, famed Gang of Four leader Andrew Gill mans the production boards. But where Gills group experimented with funk elements and basically invented a genre, the Young Knives dabble in so many styles and influences that they frequently come across like mimics of their more recent peers like the Futureheads, the Libertines, and the raging Mclusky. Worst of all is when frontman Henry Dartnall affects a falsetto reminiscent of the Darkness at their cheesiest. The Young Knives certainly show that they know their way around hooks and power chords and thus produce catchy, chart-friendly singles like the frequently out-of-tune Futureheads soundalike "The Decision," the Gang of Four-meets-the Darkness freakfest that is "Here Comes the Rumour Mill," and the Mclusky rip-off "Shes Attracted To." "Loughborough Suicide," reminiscent of Barat/Doherty, is perhaps the strongest song here, bringing together the myriad influences and vocal tricks into a strong anthem that declares "I will never go down fighting." Theres really not an original moment on Voices of Animals and Men; its uneven in its sequencing, and more than a few tracks reek of filler, but thanks to Gills production help, the dynamics are satisfying enough to almost make up for the youthful inexperience of the songwriting. A young audience helped the albums singles into the Top 40, but one cant help turning to thoughts of Kula Shaker, Razorlight, and other unhip bastions every time catchy, derivative, and purposely uncool bands release average-at-best major-label efforts like this at the tail end of revived genres. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Superabundance Released: 2008-03-10 Tracks: 12 Duration: 48:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Fit 4 U (03:16) 2 Terra Firma (02:47) 3 Up All Night (02:58) 4 Counters (04:10) 5 Light Switch (03:47) 6 Turn Tail (04:43) 7 I Can Hardly See Them (03:06) 8 Dyed in the Wool (03:09) 9 Rue the Days (03:46) 10 Flies (01:39) 11 Mummy Light the Fire (04:04) 12 Current of the River (10:33) |
| Superabundance : Allmusic album Review : Young Knives couldnt be faulted for much on their breakthrough album, Voices of Animals and Men. If their tartar plaid and throwback video-making -- not to mention their angular new wave musical sense -- made them seem rather retro-obsessed, their songs were pure gold and singer Henry Dartnall played the nerdy, over-analytical type very well. But where Voices of Animals and Men featured social critique that didnt make life seem too bad (just the kind of place where you might have to work in a takeaway shop or get a little freaked out about relationships and school life), on Superabundance the situation is quite dire. Dartnalls view of life in England now includes the dreariness of its domestic life, its materialism, the desperation of its nightlife, its lack of care for the individual -- and thats just the first four songs. Its gotten so bad, apparently, that suicide is an option ("Sitting in the front seat/turning on the motor/sucking on the hosepipe/keep it turning over"). But music is, by and large, entertainment and escapism, so regardless of whether Young Knives intend to add enlightenment to that formula, their hooks and their ideas -- their entire musical package -- are too intriguing and exciting to provoke the usual worries about agit-pop. (Tiresome themes, depressing lyrics, and worse yet, the listeners nagging sense that all this has been heard before.) The trio definitely have mastered the basics of new wave: the spiky rhythms, plunging basslines, jagged guitars, and yelping vocals. More so than their debut, however, theyre proving themselves masters of arranging and pacing their songs for maximum impact, letting guitars rage only up to a point and switching gears multiple times even before they hit the bridge. If youre afraid theres too much faux-populism on display (and not enough true populism), listen to the sober epic "Turn Tail" for something that reaches farther in a lyrical sense than most any other British band of the 2000s; the fatalism of the chorus ("Were all slaves on this ship/this ships sinking") turns to hope near the end ("Swim to the coast, boat full of ghosts, jump from the prow"). Like certain of their forebears (Gang of Four being only the most obvious), Young Knives understand that using music to make social statements means very little unless the music is as strong as the statements. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Ornaments From the Silver Arcade Released: 2011-04-04 Tracks: 11 Duration: 39:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Love My Name (03:13) 2 Woman (03:46) 3 Everything Falls Into Place (03:05) 4 Human Again (03:41) 5 Running From a Standing Start (03:10) 6 Sister Frideswide (03:58) 7 Vision in Rags (03:28) 8 Go to Ground (03:59) 9 Silver Tongue (03:38) 10 Storm Clouds (02:32) 11 Glasshouse (04:48) |
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Sick Octave Released: 2013-11-04 Tracks: 13 Duration: 48:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 12345 (00:26) 2 Owls of Athens (03:55) 3 We Could Be Blood (02:55) 4 All Tied Up (05:37) 5 White Sands (04:00) 6 Something Awful (05:15) 7 Preset Columns / Default Comets (03:32) 8 Bella Bella (04:55) 9 Marble Maze (04:00) 10 Green Island Red Raw (03:22) 11 Score (01:05) 12 Bed Warmer (05:10) 13 Maureen (04:05) |