You Me At Six’s vigorous third LP Sinners Never Sleep felt resolutely like one of the strongest, most confident rock albums of the last year, and eager to branch out from the angry, raucous sounds of Bite My Tongue, new single No One Does It Better offers a more reflective, mellow side of the group. It’s big, passionate songwriting from a band that proved with the album they’re more than just a one-sided coin. Indeed, many of the best moments on Sinners Never Sleep came in the slower tracks like this – there’s a newfound wisdom and knowingness to John Franceschi’s vocals here that’s now given new opportunity to blossom out to its full extent. No One Does It Better feels like a firm stepping stone to further success, a broadening of the group’s oeuvre via cleanly melodic guitar riffs and a real warmth of hearty lyricism.
No One Does It Better is released on the 9th April.
If there's one general rule of thumb you can usually apply to albums, it's the tracks that manage to sum up the general mix of sounds across the whole record within a single single-length four minute shot that end up being the real highlights.
As such, much touted track Bite My Tongue from You Me At Six's Sinners Never Sleep doesn't just stand out because of it's immensely satisfying screamo 'FUCK YOU!' breakdown, but because it mixes the best of the 'hard' and the 'soft' evidenced across the LP.
The chorus comes back again and again to a passionately pained cry of 'I want to hate every part of you with me', a self-destructive, apocalyptic message of relationship woes if ever there was one.
In this supremely confident blend of the tenderest emotions of the heart with steely guitar work, You Me At Six have produced one of the best rock albums of the year, of which Bite My Tongue stands as a formidable representative.
How's this for a bit of rock-based value for money - Kids in Glass Houses and You Me At Six, all in one gig. The two bands are heading out on tour together in March and April next year, so you can be sure of one pretty amazing night, whichever date you head to.
In Gold Blood and Sinners Never Sleep were two of my favourite rock albums this year, Kids in Glass Houses' effort in particular lending itself to a new gritty sound that seems crying out to be unleashed in a live environment.
The full list of dates is as follows:
March
Sat 17 Leicester O2 Academy Leicester
Sun 18 Nottingham Rock City
Tue 20 Bournemouth O2 Academy
Wed 21 Yeovil Westland Centre
Fri 23 Cardiff The Great Hall
Sat 24 Liverpool University
Sun 25 Newcastle Academy
Tue 27 Glasgow SECC Hall 3
Wed 28 Manchester O2 Manchester Apollo
April
Sun 1 Birmingham Ballroom
Mon 2 London O2 Academy Brixton
The rough and ready appeal of Loverboy, replete with laddy chants and low-slung bass, might be a far cry from the more grandiose moments of You Me At Six's latest LP (out this week), but its cares-to-the-wall attitude can't be faulted.
Picking up from night-out anthems like Liquid Confidence, the track is an impressive calling card for the grittier version of the band. With lines like 'leave the scene smelling of dead roses', it exudes an ambitious cocktail of testosterone and general male swagger.
A big proper chorus and arena-rocking guitar solo, the band are making their real shot at the mainstream here - and when the results sound as great as Loverboy does, that can only be a good thing.
'We could be anything, we could be what you like' sing You Me At Six on their new album Sinners Never Sleep, and using the record as a confident step-up from their mainstream breakthrough Hold Me Down, they make a good shot at it too.
For this is an album of many things, a far more mature, astute affair than its predecessor. And while it lacks the instant thrills of Liquid Confidence and Underdog, it more than makes up for it in its overall consistency.
Bass-heavy lead-in track Loverboy is an obvious first single - making for an agile introduction to the record, presenting a streamlined version of the band's sound whilst still packing all the trademark crunchy guitar riffs.
All across Sinners Never Sleep, there's a sense that the band is easy to please its audience, switching between two clearly defined formulas:
1) An evolution of the weighty, barbed-wire rockers that defined the previous album. This reaches its climax on Bite My Tongue - anguished screams and cries of 'hate every part of you' encompass a kind of complete, total, overwhelming passion of the emotions.
2) Something altogether newer for the band - big Americana-tinted FM rock. Here, the emotions are tuned to a more mature, considered level - just as the band and their audience have grown older, so too have the songs: This Is The First Thing is a refreshing variation from the frantic pace the album kicks off with.
By alternating between these two camps, You Me At Six ensure the album never feels tired. Indeed, Little Death's rallying boast of 'Fuck what you believe in!' betrays the band's desire to pursue new styles, to branch out into new areas, something made plain on pre-album single Rescue Me with its guest rap.
The American-styled material could easily have been cheesy, but instead the band really make it work; Little Bit Of Truth is sublime, a track fit to soundtrack a Hollywood action epic - it packs the album's best guitar solo, an immense swaggering thing of cinematic scale.
Placed next to the album's biggest all-out rocker, Time Is Money, the latter half of the record stands up just as well as its opening. Here, the guitar positively slams out of the speakers over a bed of animalistic growls. It's powerful, rousing stuff.
And if that wasn't enough, the band play yet another card from their hand in Crash. It's this song, more than any other on the album that spells out producer Garth Richardson's influence on the record - his previous work includes Biffy Clyro, and Crash is pure Biffy (...and dare I say it, perhaps even a little Snow Patrol...)
Bursting with those twinkly little music-box sounds that so many bands have latched onto of late, Crash is every bit the lush, winter ballad to rival Many of Horror. Sentimentality is the name of the game here, it's all 'I wrap my arms around you now' and... sorry, I think I've got some dust in my eye...
It's funny, you know, that the song that sounds least like You Me At Six ends up being one of the album's greatest moments. That's no bad thing though; the band's willingness to explore new sounds and directions on this album is what makes it - perhaps even more impressive is the ease at which they take to the variation. The songs fit the group like a glove, and it shows in the maturity and confidence that shines off every edge of this package.
Three albums in, and the band have delivered a pure winner.
Sinners Never Sleep is released on the 3rd October and can be pre-ordered here.
Hampshire and Surrey based rock trio The Devil’s Conspiracy are set to hit the live circuit soon, supporting Love Amongst Ruin on their UK tour. The band’s EP Return To Sender echoes many of the sounds of the band they’re opening for, expansive walls of guitar noise that flow effortlessly from moments of melodic ambience to raw, frenetic power chords.
In Denial and I Want To Burn Like You are big punky tracks that seem infused with the sense of freedom. I remember back in my youth I used to play the racing videogame Burnout and tracks like this would serve as the perfect soundtrack to it. There’s that energy, speed, with a rebellious edge... a sense of adventure.
With three years of touring behind them, you can almost taste the enthusiasm in the tracks – this a band that lives for the thrill of it all. Sound-wise, The Devil’s Conspiracy come with touches of You Me At Six and Feeder, as well as echoing many of the elements of Love Amongst Ruin themselves. Those looking for more tender moments need look no further than the EP's title track – it’s perhaps this song most of all where the band’s skill, versatility and musicianship shines most brightly.
You Me At Six team up with Chiddy of Opposite of Adults fame for this Linkin Park flavoured slice of rock-rap. In particular, if you remember LP's duet with Busta Rhymes, Rescue Me is very much in the same vein. It represents something of a departure from the sound of the band's fantastic Hold Me Down album, but they pull it off with confidence. Fist pumping choruses and lovely little production touches make this a real winner of a track.
