![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/your_academy.jpg\")
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At the risk of over-indulging in generalities and attempting to make things neater than they really are, when one thinks of American powerpop, the style can \u2013 to some extent \u2013 be further divided into regional styles. There\u2019s the L.A. skinny-tie new wave variety, exemplified by The (Paul Collins) Beat. There\u2019s the Midwestern style, including leading lights Cheap Trick and The Raspberries and including lesser-known greats like Shoes and The Vertebrats. And there\u2019s the Memphis strain, a style that gave the world not only Big Star but The Scruffs and Van Duren.<\/p>\n
There were certainly more; this is a reductive argument to make a larger point. In nearly all cases, as some of those acts faded or splintered, musicians re-combined and new groups rose from the new associations. Perhaps nobody expected a new powerpop group to come around in 2019, but that\u2019s what happened when members of Memphis group crash into june connected with others \u2013 including a guitarist from a later lineup of The Scruffs \u2013 as Your Academy. The band\u2019s web site goes so far as to brand Your Academy as \u201cthe resurrection of Memphis powerpop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The album opens with gospel-flavored piano and sweet vocal harmonies, but those are a classic case of misdirection: the song quickly shifts gears into something that truly is transcendent powerpop. \u201cWhy Don\u2019t We?\u201d doesn\u2019t copy the sound and style of Badfinger, Big Star or the \u2018berries, but it\u2019s very much a piece with their sort of highly melodic, midtempo rock. Equal parts melody and crunch, with a chorus that burrows itself into the listener\u2019s head: those are the hallmarks of the best of the subgenre. And they\u2019re served up in great volume on this, the opening cut on the band\u2019s self-titled debut.<\/p>\n
The quality doesn\u2019t waver. \u201cHeaven Knows\u201d is a yearning, melancholy number that feels a bit like Fountains of Wayne crossed with Phil Seymour, and the lyrics even squeeze a mention of \u201cyellow pills\u201d into the chorus. The creamy vocal harmonies signal that yes indeed, claims as to Your Academy\u2019s greatness might not be wide of the mark.<\/p>\n
The band dials things down for the balladry of \u201cSunrise.\u201d It\u2019s filled with energy, just of a different kind. The group\u2019s sound isn\u2019t retro; it\u2019s classic. But then \u201cBetter Alone Together\u201d swings for the fences, with a grand feel that recalls the finest moments from Badfinger\u2019s ill-fated opus, Wish You Were Here<\/i>.<\/p>\n
With its opening drum figure, \u201cStarlight\u201d threatens to quote The Wonders\u2019 \u201cThat Thing You Do!\u201d but goes someplace else. It\u2019s another strong song, with soaring vocals and shimmering\/jangling guitars. \u201cBetter Nature\u201d rocks harder than the songs that have come before, with a feel that may remind listeners of Gin Blossoms. A subtle Southwestern feel shows up in \u201cTalent Party,\u201d featuring understated combo organ for a Dwight Twilley meets Sir Douglas Quintet vibe.<\/p>\n
A lovely ode to Memphis, \u201cBluff City\u201d is \u2013 by the standards of this album \u2013 a weeper. The song opens up as it goes along, with a searing lead guitar solo that places it in the range of Badfinger\u2019s \u201cTimeless.\u201d Everly Brothers-favored vocal harmonies characterize \u201cOur Love Matters (TCB).\u201d The album officially ends with an elegiac, piano-based number, \u201cMy Lonely Life.\u201d An alternate version of \u201cStarlight\u201d is appended as a bonus track; it feels like a demo, and while there\u2019s nothing wrong with it, the official version is vastly superior, as it shows Your Academy\u2019s strength to best effect.<\/p>\n
With gathering restrictions lifted across the country, it seems reasonable to hope that Your Academy might schedule live dates. The band\u2019s earnest yet unaffected music doesn\u2019t rely upon studio effects, which suggests that they could be quite good live. Here\u2019s hoping we can find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At the risk of over-indulging in generalities and attempting to make things neater than they really are, when one thinks of American powerpop, the style can \u2013 to some extent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,55,65],"tags":[4531],"class_list":["post-21003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-powerpop","category-review","tag-your-academy","cat-49-id","cat-55-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21003"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22343,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21003\/revisions\/22343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}