Label: Zen F.C.
Release Date: 3rd November 2020
Rating: 8/10
"The satirical one-liners and observations upon the banality of ordinary suburban existence on Yard Act’s ‘Fixer Upper’ are further developed in ‘Peanuts’."
Leeds-based band Yard Act flew out of the gates with their first single Fixer Upper / The Trapper’s Pelts - self-released as a 7” in September – and their follow-up track ‘Peanuts’ continues that momentum.
‘Peanuts’, as a song, is extremely lyrically focused (even employing a section of spoken word) however it also incorporates a danceable beat and psychedelic riffs to create something weird, cantankerous and absolutely brilliant. Menace Beach’s Ryan Needham does a predictably wonderful job of creating a bassline on this track, and I think it’s the bassline in this track that gives it its driving momentum building to a climax in the latter half of the song.
Yard Act bring a certain humour to their unique blend of punk/indie/noise, it’s hard to pin them down in terms of genre, which is an extremely positive point in my view – it’s refreshing to hear something original which bends or breaks the devices of a specific genre, especially during a time in which there are so many generic guitar bands whom all sound exactly the same.
The satirical one-liners and observations upon the banality of ordinary suburban existence on Yard Act’s ‘Fixer Upper’ are further developed upon in ‘Peanuts’, in which the story of a woman who fabricated her marriage and husband, eventually breaking down and murdering her imaginary husband by exploiting his nut allergy, is told during the spoken word section of the song. Again, the inclusion of a spoken word section in the middle of an otherwise jangly, upbeat indie/punk tune is an unfortunate rarity which Yard Act have absolutely aced.
‘Peanuts’, alongside Yard Act’s other work, was mixed by Ross Orton, which should be viewed as a mark of quality given Orton’s previous work with Arctic Monkeys, Amyl and the Sniffers, and The Fall amongst others. In fact, the clever lines, stories of suburban insanity and angsty delivery of Yard Act’s work seem to draw inspiration from The Fall’s Mark E Smith.
The fact that ‘Peanuts’ is only the third song released by Yard Act is extremely promising for the future of the band. I, for one, am extremely excited for the eventual album, and to hear a Yard Act live performance (once such a thing is possible again) as I predict it’ll be incredibly impressive.
Words by Ben Forrest.
6th November 2020.
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