Yuck

Saturday night saw London’s melodic skuzz quartet, Yuck, play a powerful set to a smoke filled room of noise lovers spanning every decade.

The intimate cave setting of Cabaret Voltaire provided the perfect backdrop for Yuck’s sound; they played their debut album of grunge inspired pop songs to the capital, and came up trumps.

Yuck have done something quite spectacular; borne out of a brief NME inspired success with Cajun Dance Party, Daniel Blumburg and Max Bloom have grown up to blend melody with a skuzzy, pedal induced album of pop songs, spearheading the 90s revival of today. It’s safe to say that Yuck have certainly moved on from the jangly, irritating and somewhat generic sound of their previous group and learnt from the likes of Dinosaur Jr., Pavement and Teenage Fanclub. However much it pains me to draw comparisons between these artists, there is no doubt as to where they have drawn their inspiration from. They’re only one album into their current project and they’ve already gathered quite a following… and judging by the audience, one that can acknowledge and appreciate their influences.

The finale was particularly memorable. Blumburg and Bloom stayed on stage to create an intensely consuming melodic distortion. No prizes for guessing where they got that idea.

All in all, it was a great show. They gave it their all, and produced some great sounds that resonated with a nostalgic crowd. They have been criticized for drawing too much from their pool of influence, but when it comes down to it, they’ve learnt from the best. They’re enthusiastic, polite and lovable – mothers would certainly approve of these boys teaching their children a lesson or two about their musical heritage.