The Heys album “youngbored&broke” garnered a three star review on revolt-media.com. Here’s what they had to say…
youngbored&broke, the debut album from UK band The Heys, has a title that will resonate with many music fans. Unlike rappers, pop musicians, or even bands like MGMT, The Heys don’t sing about making money and bikini-clad women throwing themselves at limos. Instead, The Heys zero in on an experience most everyone can relate to: being young, bored, and broke. Although in many ways The Heys enforce the idea of an indie aesthetic, musically, they follow in a long, British tradition of the four-piece garage band, sounding equal parts Kings Of Leon, the Kinks, The Kooks and the Arctic Monkeys.
“Elbow Culture,” on first listen, establishes The Heys as a band with a strong Guided By Voices influence. Unlike the rest of the album, which owes more to the British-based garage rock tradition, the song is classically lo-fi indie. “Pressure” attempts to steal the opening bass line from the Pixies’ “Gigantic,” and then starts with a guitar lick that sounds suspiciously like that insanely popular OK Go treadmill song. “Young Bored And Broke” has, as all the tracks do, a really moving, punchy guitar lick, but it’s the song’s frank address of relatable circumstances that makes it memorable. “Arms & Legs” opens with the line, “When the color starts to fade to gray and nothing goes your way / You don’t know what you’re going to do, you know you’re following from altitude.” Occasionally, the dark, overwrought lyrics detract from the music, as on “Arms & Legs.”
Something about “Hey” calls to mind mid-90s alternative rock, like a hit by Bush or the Foo Fighters. The brooding, self-conscious lyrics again threaten to overwhelm the song, but the guitar and drums rescue the song from melodrama. “Get It On” is a slow-paced, downbeat song about a break-up. “Get It On” is a little awkward – throughout the duration of the song it seems The Heys want to burst out with one of their fast, hard-rock numbers – and shows the band attempting a difficult medium. “Aint Wot You Say” is one of the best songs on youngbored&broke. The song has a great lick, the Beck-inspired repetition of “na-na-na,” and that same OK Go-inspired chord progression. “Take It Easy,” the album closer, sounds like the last song of the night: heavy, tired, and full of regret.
One minor issue on youngbored&broke is the production. The songs are there, but the lo-fi production and monotony of instrument choice don’t allow the songs to live up to their full potential. I look forward to future releases from The Heys, hopefully with larger budgets. – JULENE PAUL
