Dude York don’t hang around when it comes to releasing albums. The Seattle band have release three records and an EP since 2014, and their fourth continues their well-trodden path of spiky indie-rock songs that swing wildly from emo to the poppier end of the spectrum.
Vocalists Claire England and Peter Richards keep things interesting from song to song, England's chirpy Kate Pierson-esque voice an apt foil to Richards's surfer-dude drawl.
With a lyrical focus on the ups and downs of a relationship, some songs hit more tenderly than others; Box comes off like someone forgot the correct lyrics to The Killers’ Mr. Brightside (“It started with a kiss / Who would have thought that it would end like this, in a total eclipse?”)
Clumsy phrasing aside, the emo-tinged Should’ve and the Foo Fighters-style menace of How It Goes impress, while Unexpected sounds like Rilo Kiley if they had never made it out of their parents’ garage or past their existential teenage years.
That’s not as bad as it may sound, because despite these short songs remaining a little one-note throughout, there is a certain charm to the taut, playful bounce of most of this album.
