Skip to content
DVDfever.co.uk – The Young Republic: Balletesque CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
End Of The Road Records
- Released: Out now
- Rating: 10/10
Pomp-Pop at its best.
Since their stunning 2007 debut,12 Tales From Winter City,Tennessee based The Young Republic appear to have down- sized from eight to six. Despite losing two members theyve lost none of their quality.
With a penchant for dabbling in post classical music fused with indie-pop cum Americana, they now move onwards and upwards with the spectacular Balletesque.Their musical assortment has both a keen eye on crossover appeal in the shape of Bright Eyes-like country folk and sharp pop sensibilities.
Inspiration came from turbulent times the band endured in late 2008, and it pushes music training at Berklee College of Music in jazz / folk and classical music towards a darker cinematic sound.Having been originally influenced by Dylan, Lennon, Belle & Sebastian theyve shifted gear to more contemporary artists like The Raconteurs, Pixies, and Arcade Fire. Here songs evolve around a cast including salesmen, bootleggers, preachers, outlaws and misfits of the past and present along with touching tales of loss and betrayal.
Opening with a tour de force, sumptuous strings soon emerge into a rough hewed rocker The Alchemist though the combination of strings and edgy riffs and solos mark it as a TYR exclusive. The violin solo later- in is a show-stopping moment.A pop-blues stomp (with fab slide solos) comes to the fore on the catchy Black Duck Blues – its something Julian Saporiti had remembered from his college days (no lyrics then though) which he developed after a visit to a bar and research in the Cape. Its a great tale of Americas most notorious Fed-dodging 50 foot rum-runner off the coast of Newport, which finally succumbed to the Coast Guard in December 1929.
Combining measured Americana with classical gypsy-infused touchstones they conjured up stylish Napoleon Roses, a story that keeps to their traditional folk narrative accompanied by swirling piano and neat- beat which eventually bursts into a Waterboys-like Celtic fling, tailing off to some spellbinding violin showboating.Edgy, quirky and playful Rose Parade is a nod to Tom Waits after Saporiti saw him in concert, whereas the understated Sam Clemens is shimmering ballad presumably about Mark Twain featuring a short but classy tuba solo.
The title track was saved from an early acoustic demo then called Because You Can further developed by keysman Nate Underkuffler, now morphing into a raucous rocker while The Wolf has its origins in the blues fused with gypsy-like folk.A fully orchestrated piece, Tidal Wave is just that, a whopping classical coated monster enough to blow your speakers to bits.
Balletesque closes on a high Tough Year a recognition of the fall-out from 2008s difficulties, with a nod (deliberately or not) in the direction of alt-folk icon Connor Oberst of Bright Eyes.
The verdict: Fabulous.
Weblink:theyoungrepublic.net /groups.yahoo.com/group/youngrepublic
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Introduction
2. The Alchemist
3. Black Duck Blues
4. Napoleon Roses
5. Rose Parade
6. Sam Clemens
7. Balletesque
8. The Wolf
9. Bows In Your Arms
10. Tidal Wave
11. Autumns In The Trees
12. Tough Year (Hard Waltz)
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.