You Me At Six - Hold Me Down Review
Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 01.14.2010
Up-and-coming UK rock quintet knock one out of the park on sophomore album.
You Me At Six – Hold Me Down
Released: January 11th 2010 [UK]
Review by Daniel Wilcox
Josh Franceschi – vocals
Max Helyer – rhythm guitar
Chris Miller – lead guitar
Matt Barnes – bass guitar
Dan Flint - drums
1. The Consequence
2. Underdog
3. Playing the Blame Game
4. Stay With Me
5. Safer to Hate
6. Take Your Breath Away
7. Liquid Confidence
8. Harder to Swallow
9. Contagious Chemistry
10. There’s No Such Thing as Accidental Infidelity
11. Trophy Eyes
12. Fireworks
You Me At Six is a band that has gone from strength to strength since it came on the scene just three short years ago, making big hits like “Finders Keepers” and “Jealous Minds Think Alike”, to releasing a triumphant cover of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Now they’re back with their second album, entitled Hold Me Down, and it looks like the hits are just going to keep on coming, only this time they’re going to be hitting a hell of a lot harder.
The band’s sophomore album opens with an air raid siren followed up by a killer riff as “The Consequence” dances its way into the listeners’ brains. It’s an infectious track that serves as just a prelude to big hook after big hook. The opening track closes with a bombastic refrain of the line “I’ve got real big plans and such bad thoughts,” which reflects the size of the songs on this record and the venom with which lead singer Josh Franceschi delivers his vocal. It’s a slick vocal style that seems him almost spit out the verses before making full use of his impressive voice on the choruses.
Elsewhere, it’s some crunching riffs and basic but brutal drumming that drives the tracks forward, such as on lead single “Underdog” and the venomous “Harder to Swallow.” “Playing the Blame Game” features some pretty impressive drumming as well as some of the more inventive lyrics present on the album. Overall, the album isn’t too much lyrically, relying on tongue-in-cheek ironies and playful plays on words, but all in all the lyricism and song writing on Hold Me Down is more than competent.
What I really like about this album is that the band hasn’t changed a whole lot; all too often these days bands are in a hurry to change their sound because people just don’t have the attentions spans that they used to. But instead You Me At Six has improved upon its old sound by making the choruses bigger and the melodies tighter, as tracks like “The Consequence,” “Underdog” and “Trophy Eyes” prove. Not every song hits the mark, but all in all it’s a confident and triumphant sophomore album that puts them somewhere near the very top of the pop punk heap.
Hold Me Down doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, but what it does do is offer a fun and eclectic collection of songs that will excite and ignite arenas for the next couple of years while this band continues to hone its craft. With strong vocals and impressive musicianship, this is going to be one of the top albums in the genre come year’s end, unquestionably.
The 411: You Me At Six follow up on its impressive debut with an album packed full great rock songs, ranging from the sublime riff-laden "Safer to Hate" to the fist-pumping "Underdog." It's a record that gets under your skin, stays in your head and encourages some good old-fashion head banging, while also containing some tremendously catchy melodies and big, unashamed hooks. The band now has a swagger that they have rightly earned and I can only predict that this is a band that's going to go from strength to strength in the coming years.
