LABEL: ROADRUNNER
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 26, 2010 (DIGITAL)/JANUARY 25, 2011 (CD) 

oung the Giant is the self-titled debut of the California-based band formerly known as The Jakes. The album is unmistakably Pop-Rock, with a carefree style throughout the entire project that at times can be overwhelming but it is undeniably addicting if and when it takes hold. This music feels like it was written for the young at heart, beach-dwellers and anyone looking for a summer anthem.

The album was produced with the band and multiple Grammy winner Joe Chicarelli so the music just sounds beautiful. It is crisp, full and never ever flat or too busy, it is perfect harmony of mixing that only the top tier producers can manage. The lead singer’s Sameer Gadhia claims his songwriting style is a mix between conscious substance and nonsensical spontaneity and at times that is plainly obvious in this album. The lyrics are never quite grotesquely shallow but they just feel like they lack any semblance of nuance.

“God Made Man” is one of the songs that best exemplify the good and the bad of the album. It features great instrumentation that is only made somehow slightly generic by the wandering stream of consciousness lyrics. It is hard to understand what direction the song is going other than offering random good vibrations. Near the three minute mark of the song it suddenly becomes a louder, more rock based song with near screaming song delivery but the reason is anyone’s guess why. It certainly doesn’t feel cathartic.

“Strings” is meant to be a song with cascading instruments meshing together like the crashing waves and for the most part the band succeeds in giving the impression of the sun and the beach but the lyrically the song sounds the same as any on the album. It doesn’t sound terrible it is just a constant struggle to figure out what the song is about other than a slightly shaken up girlfriend/lover/friend.  Stylistically Gadhia is easy to listen to on this track but it is just a song about nothing.

“St. Walker” begins with a reverb heavy guitar which feels a bit cliched somehow in the midst of a relatively up beat album, especially when the song seems to be about love gone wrong. Thankfully the song becomes uptempo and slightly frantic which gives the song a bit of a novelty feeling compared to the rest of the album. Still the song feels awfully similar to a number of other songs both in lyrical delivery and musical content. It feels like a song composed of the best parts of singles from other artists.

Young the Giant has gained a decent bit of exposure from this album and it is easy to see why. In the right conditions this is a fabulously addicting, feel good album that is hard to ignore once the album begins to take hold, if the music takes hold at all. The issue is with more than a casual ear the album feels too immature and a bit too happy for the sake of being happy. The band has considerable talent but the album has the same amount of personality as a generic teen movie clichéd blonde beach bunny.