Youthmovies - 'Good Nature' (Drowned In Sound) Released 17/03/08

This album gets off to a slow start, with a four and a half minute quiet hum. Light up some patchouli oil or something. This jump-off, 'Magdalen Bridge' is named after the place squiffy Oxford students jump off every Mayday. When the song does get going, it's embellished with trumpet blasts. Youthmovies have got this song and trumpet player, Sam Scott from Jonquil. Youthmovies singer Andrew Mears was a founder member of Foals, but less known is his singing on 'Magdalen Bridge' by the bafflingly under-exposed Jonquil. With all this collaboration going on, it's appropriate that 'Good Nature' should start with a song named after a bridge and as it happens, the song is as beautiful as the botanical gardens you can see from said bridge.

"It was over when you didn't mean", Mears sings on the next song, 'The Naughtiest Girl Is A Monitor'. It's probably the sweetest song alluding to premature ejaculation you'll ever hear. Mears also sings of "Ridiculous jeans, Rage Against The Machine". Now kids wear skinny jeans, but back in the day baggy jeans were prevalent. The size of jeans go in and out like a tide-line. On the old Youthmovies song, 'Spooks The Horse' Mears sounds like Rage Against The Machine's Zack de la Rocha. 'The Naughtiest Girl...' is a self-deprecating look back to a time when Youthmovies sounded like tortured young artists and now they sound happy... "It's a wonderful thing, I've got no regrets, this is not one of those sad songs". No shit, we did catch those euphoric guitar and drum build-ups.

Last year, your reviewer described 'Soandso and Soandso' as “starting as a repetitive disco groove, before spinning off into a slow and hard rock grind”. That sticks, although the term 'disco' can be given the prefix 'metal' on this version. As Graeme Murray lays down a pitter-patter drum-beat, Mears sings "Altitude, rain-drops is what soaks you and when they collide, the rivers and the lakes decide the life-line of culture you use". This is a song about Youthmovies scaling the musical heights, see. That might sound like arrogant wank, but their music backs it up and besides, sometimes arrogant wank is fine... "If you can't please yourself, then don't try and please anyone".

On 'Cannula', Mears sings of minotaurs and unicorns, creatures that are probably best left to 1970's prog-rock lyricists. It's just as well the music is more modern, with all sorts of click-clacking going off. 'If You'd Seen A Battlefield' thankfully has Mears returning to more mundane subject matter... "It's not going well and it's not going badly, it's just going along". The music does go well though, driven along by trumpet, drums and immaculate guitar-sound. 'Something For The Ghosts' makes use of the same guitar-sound, chiming before chugging drums come in and the guitar starts screaming. This is indicative of Youthmovies thrilling, go anywhere musical policy.

'Archive It Everywhere' could be a command of a song-title, this one's for your CD, MP3, C-90, it's a money-shot. The build-up includes a low bass-line, before the horn-noise soars. At first it seems to be about auto.phphyxiation..."Just hold your breath like Lazarus". It's actually a sweet love-song for an asthmatic... "Your visiting breath's become narrow, I'll tap tap those barnacles off your back". Spine-tingling. On album closer 'Surtsey', Mears sings "Stay in love, it helps you grow old and that's the goal". The lasting union of Youthmovies has borne wonderful fruit in 'Good Nature'.