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Album Details

• Artist: Young Galaxy
• Album: Young Galaxy
• Label: Arts & Crafts
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2007-05-10

Young Galaxy is one of the newest signings for the largely influential Canadian label Arts & Crafts and while most bands on their roster have some familiar sound going on, Young Galaxy are out in left field (closest maybe being the Dears). That doesn't mean you should shy away from this release though. Instead, venture out into the new territory with me. The group is basically a duo consisting of Catherine McCandless and Stephen Ramsay joined by a bunch of other musicians, as is the way on A&C. Young Galaxy is an impressive debut, even though it does take a few listens to really get into.

The album opens up gently with "Swing Your Heartache", a song that sounds like a recent Mercury Rev reject. Catherine and Stephen's harmonizing is worth the price of admission. Then they move into "No Matter How Hard You Try", a song that is probably the most upbeat track on this mostly sombre record. They keep this pace up with "Outside The City", a track where Catherine takes on the lead vocal duties. "Lazy Religion" is hypnotic and addictive. There is a spacey feel that can really been heard in tracks like "The Sun's Coming Up and my Plane's Going Down", where there is a bit of a shoegazing feel going on. It's almost Pink Floyd in nature. I can hear a bit of Beth Orton in the ever-so-gentle "Embers". The album closes on a strong note with "The Alchemy Between Us", working as a great farewell.

And while Young Galaxy is probably the weakest release on the strong Arts & Crafts roster, it's a decent release and gets better with each subsequent listen. Watch for future releases from this duo, they have some maturing that needs to happen and the potential is huge.

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