Friend of all Breeds EP
Hands Organic
By Samantha Parvin
If “indie” has come to describe a particular style of music, Yourself and the Air are the poster children for the genre. The Friend of all Breeds five-song EP is polished and well-rehearsed; it makes sense, which is less easy to find these days than one may think. The milieu of sounds created by sturdy drums, rhythm and lead guitars, and precise vocals painted with semi-heavy effects is satisfying and lacks little. “So You’ve Come to Mingle” features a glockenspiel and “Less is Less” has a triangle, which adds a magical, ultra-pop dynamic.
The Chicago foursome succeeds in creating an ambience of personal,
asking questions often on our minds at some point in life; rhetorical at times,
but always worth pondering. Lead singer
Erick Crosby asks, “What does it take to leave this town?” in “Less is Less”
and “Do you get it? What you see – in the papers or in the magazines?…Turn off
that damn TV” in “My Friends are In Love with a Feeling.” The well-arranged, catchy notes of “So You’ve
Come to Mingle” are single-worthy and lighten the sometimes darker attitude of
the EP.
The five tracks seem to
represent an era of questioning for the young men, as if this is a pivotal and
decision-making period in their lives – with love, careers, health, and
otherwise. This is a string of five
songs best listened to in your Bose headphones, laying on your bed in a
half-lit room. Everyone needs an anthem
for those contemplative times in their lives, and Yourself and the Air offer
that in Friend of all Breeds.
Yourself and the Air play The EARL on July 25. Tickets are available at Ticket Alternative.
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