You Me At Six: Cavalier Youth

Artist: You Me At Six
Title: Cavalier Youth
Format Reviewed: CD / DVD
Format Release: 27th January 2014
Reviewed By: Dan Stoten

You Me At Six are one of those bands we all knew would eventually end up releasing this album, the big, commercially successful album. Their discography reflects this, with Sinners Never Sleep straddling that boundary between pop-punk and pop-rock perfectly. Their latest record, Cavalier Youth, straddles something of a different boundary, between rock, pop, and arguably stadium-rock. Many bands have sold out on their way to this stage, but somehow You Me At Six have got there without alienating their roots.

Cavalier Youth is without doubt an excellent album. However, opener Too Young To Feel This Old is a weak start, and left me hoping that the rest of the record wasn't going to be in the same mould. It's a soaring track, but never really gets going, the chorus sounding like an extended verse as opposed to the crescendo a good chorus should be. However, as is always the case with You Me At Six, Josh Franceschi's voice is excellent and really provides the path which the rest of the music follows. A fairly weak start, but this breaks into single Lived A Lie, which has much more edge to it. Following a simple song structure of quiet verse, loud, catchy and melodic chorus, this showcases You Me At Six at their best. All elements are perfectly judged, and you can envision how big this song will be in the band's live performances. Although clearly suited to arenas, and the band many steps forward, Lived A Lie somehow still has the same DNA as a number of the songs on debut album Take Off Your Colours, a record which had a much more emo/pop-punk edge. This is to be applauded.

Fresh Start Fever continues in the same vein, albeit with a much more commercially sensitive indie-type cymbal; yet the crescendo three minutes through the track harks back to If You Run. The fifth track on the album, Room To Breathe, has a stunning mix of pop-punk and rock, with a deliciously wailing guitar melody yet hard-edged drum beat, and Franceschi's voice scaling from low and sombre, right through to gritty and aggressive. It's a song you have on for a few seconds before reaching for the volume control, turning it up...and up...and up. The chorus is brilliantly catchy yet melodic, the track brooding, the band's talent obvious.

Win Some, Lose Some is a largely forgettable track until that crescendo hits, delivering the right balance of aggression and melody. Cold Night feels a lot like filler, though. It doesn't ever hit the high notes of other tracks and feels like it meanders somewhat towards it's conclusion as opposed to drives purposefully, like most of the other tracks here. It's again not a shockingly bad song but just nothing special.

The highlight for me, though, from the rest of the album is Carpe Diem. It's an unashamed pop-rock song, but because it's very clearly meant to be that, it's perfect. It's a fairly upbeat track, one which is bouncy, energetic and catchy. It's one you can have on in the background, or one you could turn up loud.

I must admit being totally unsure of what to expect when Cavalier Youth arrived. I didn't want to bring preconceptions when listening to it. I didn't, however, expect it to impress me as much as it has. This is a very, very good record, a complete record, a record which has a huge sound and a huge amount of likeability. Somehow, You Me At Six have done it.