You Me At Six - Cavalier Youth Album Review

Released	27 January 2014
Recorded	2013
Genre	Rock, Music, Alternative,Adult Alternative, Punk
Length	43:13
Label	BMG Rights
Rating	5.5/ 10

I wasn't too sure if I wanted to review this album or not but already doing some on the previous three, I thought it would be interesting to see the pattern and journey  the Surrey band You Me At Six have chosen. (Also released on my birthday, I couldn't resist)
Being their fourth major studio album released by a new label it was sure the band have yet again taken another turn, this time a little too far down the wrong track. Progressively the band have shown a slow distance sway towards their music, with each album slowly deteriorating from their first "Take Off All Your Colours" and have now reached to the bottom of the trash.
Not to be overly negative, but I have been a supporter of this band since their first album, as I have watched them grow with each one, I have also found myself lost, but with Cavalier Youth, it has finally ended my journey. Being totally in love with the first two albums and pretty swayed with Sinners Never Sleep I knew that this new release was going to be way out of their usual comfort zone. After listening to it for a couple of days I have finally made my own decisions on how I feel towards it, if you were an old YMAS fan then you may agree with some of the points I'm trying to say but overall It's worth a listen and I really did enjoy it, but as an album by the band I spent my teenage years on, I didn't relate to it well.

Before the album was released in its entirety, three new songs featured on it were banged on about all over the internet with various positive comments and professional style music videos to match. First out the bag was "Lived A Lie" a very catchy positive and upbeat song, imminently sweeping the nation with their typical charm however this song didn't keep me on my toes. With its first listen I didn't seem to understand it, but with more and more views I began to let myself open up a little and enjoy it slightly. Hearing a familiar rocky guitar intro I was pleased that they had kept this talent alive, however ending too soon with lead vocalist Josh Franceshi jumping right in with his upbeat vocals which lead right to the chorus. Bright and bouncy the song does prove to be one of the strongest within the album as I can find myself reuniting with their previous work. Lyrically wise it was poor and lacking meaning, like Sinners Never Sleep, the typical themes within this album are heavily based on relationship troubles. Disappointing me further with its basic repetitive chorus of "We are believers" the song ends in its mediocre finale. Overall I feel that this song was just overly hyped about for my expectations.

Following this impressive new take to their genre was "Fresh Start Fever" which contained a more adult, serious themed music video, impressed with this choice in style, the actual song lets it all down. Just when I thought it was getting better. Instrumentally wise it's pretty bland and basic, with no outburst of drums or a heavy screeching guitar riff it felt more like a Josh Franceschi song than an YMAS one. Despite this, they have clearly produced another bouncy generic song, with its short cut lyrics placed in perfect time with the snare crashing of the crescendo, YMAS have shown some new impressive talent here. Liking this song better than Lived A Lie I can see how modern and wide the band have gone totally different from any of their other music, as they have definitely taken on the alternative rock approach leaving their punkiness behind and growing up a bit. Pleasing the mainstream audiences, with its time of release it did sound a lot like all the new bands and their new albums like Fall Out Boy and Panic! due to this influence I feel like they have gotten easily strayed away into this group of change.

Close to its release date "Hope For The Best" was next out, keeping their treasured guitar intro in place, Franceschi's vocals came in a whole lot stronger and solid this time. Now feeling like all my hopes are restored, this song proved to lift my spirits up a bit as I found myself instantly glued to it, reminding me a lot of Hold Me Down. Solidly perfecting their catchy head bobbing pace, Dan Flint proved to show his drumming skills here a lot more taking its adult alternative feel with a joining bridge of the guitars into it's sucking chorus beat before ending the song with a similar outro.

Starting the album off we have "Too Young To Feel This Old" which sets the mood right away with this whole theme of growing up. Perfectly in line with their new sound this songs gives a brief overview of the new route they have taken in growing up along with this new alternative sound. Not venturing around too far, this proves to deploy some old themes in Hold Me Down with its serious tone combined with the instrumental gift the band are blessed with, this song is a secure opener to Cavalier Youth.

The next few songs seem to be fillers of the sandwich which are less important and rather bland.  "Forgive and forget" covers an inherent laid back relax style tune which doesn't stand out to be a song produced by You Me At Six, as I feel this is the case with a lot of the songs, causing the album to be poor in comparison to their others despite the claim Josh and Max broadcasted that "This album is defiantly the strongest by far".
Fifth up "Room To Breath" certainty does give the other members some breathing time to show off their talent a little more than Josh has given them. All credit goes to Max, Dan, Chris and Matt in this song as I feel it's the most strongest instrumentally wise and would be better off as an interlude rather than making it another "Song about Josh". In spite of this YMAS verify once again they can pull it off making it their own track and doing the band some more justice they deserve.
"Win Some Lose Some" tackles a resembling yet more "I told you so" reminiscence that I get from their first two records, with their new modern twist added on, this song doesn't strike me or catch my attention but does flow along with the album well.

Taking on a whole happier and pleasant theme in which has shown through Josh's personal life this reflects directly on the album as it seems to focus on his moods, which is a great thing for him just not the band, as it has left them somewhat in the shadows of his happiness. Not to say that they are not happy, I just hoped that there would be a variety of sounds within each song rather than a nice smooth transition from one to another, it's almost samie with the odd distinctive song that catches the tip of your ear.
Along with its bland choice of songs, the titles follow closely which seem to lack in the creative side a little, I mean what even is "Love Me Like You Used to? Hope for the best, Forgive and Forget" they all just seem like generic sayings lacking the surprising and extravagant mind set shown in "You call that a comeback, There Is No Such Thing As Accidental Infertility and Blue Eyes Don't Lie" I can see them trying to relate more directly to their fans with "Be Who You Are" by choosing these song titles which is a good thing, yet it dissolves all originality and spring.

Finally we have "Wild Ones" which again restores the albums strength as it's a perfect closing song that revolves around Sinners Never Sleep. Slow pace, the song starts up its steady drum beat which floats peacefully alongside Josh's vocals that layer up in time to the chorus. More of a realisation song that I feel close to, all faith has now been restored as I really did enjoy this song settling the relaxed mood to just sit back and let it flow through my ears. The band certainly do know what they're doing, despite the lack of evidence, the album flows perfectly even if it's not up to my taste it is a solid one. If it wasn't by them, without all their previous history then it would probably earn a much higher rating of 7, however this is not the case and I feel a little more disappointed with them as they started of strong but didn't come out swinging.
All in all the album is a nice listen to once in a while but not something I would listen to a lot or get into, as each song blends into another I feel half and half about it, therefor earning only a 5.5
Better luck next time? Or not, maybe even worse, who knows?

Full stream here: Cavalier Youth