‘The Overload’ lives up to its hype with flying colours. Brilliantly constructed to unfurl like some sordid soap opera of Brexit Britain, it brims with vignettes populated by instantly-recognisable caricatures of the now.
Yard Act’s influences never overwhelm their own personality. ... It may be early to start taking notes on the Album Of The Year, but the smart money says The Overload will be there or thereabouts.
The decade this outfit have spent in other bands pays off in a record that’s raucous and fun, incisive and – as it winds to a close – profoundly heartfelt, as vocalist James Smith apologises disgustedly for the sins of British foreign policy.
The Overload is a very fine debut from a group that sound like they think they are smarter, funnier and fiercer than all of their peers, and just might prove to be.
The Overload has enough interesting touchstones, but unfortunately, how Yard Act aim to utilize them within their songwriting MO is still a bit of a jumble. Many of the sounds and textures don’t really add much expressive gusto to Smith’s thespian qualities, and I feel the group can cover a lot of ground here on upcoming releases.
Playing like a dementedly delightful mashup of Slint's jagged, muscular guitar lines, The Dead Milkmen's winkingly humorous lyricism, andPlaying like a dementedly delightful mashup of Slint's jagged, muscular guitar lines, The Dead Milkmen's winkingly humorous lyricism, and Cake's droll talk-singing vocal delivery all delivered by a more indie-inflected IDLES cousin, "The Overload" effectively coalesces such wildly disparate musical elements into a singular sonic identity that's all Yard Act's own and will prove pleasing to fans of any number of those bands.…Expand
I'm a post-punk fan, and a fan of the recent talk-sing-sometimes-post-rock post-punk wave. Of them this and Squid's debut last year standI'm a post-punk fan, and a fan of the recent talk-sing-sometimes-post-rock post-punk wave. Of them this and Squid's debut last year stand above to me. Fontaines D.C., black midi, Black Country, New Road are all very strong but I keep returning to this one. It's the British wit, Talking Heads grooves, occasional hip hop or disco injection, each song (bar Quarantine the Sticks) just asks to be listened to over and over again. The final three really bring it home strong too.…Expand
Perfectly political and nonsensical in equal measure. There are no dull moments on the overload, with dense lyricism, and catchy melodies-Perfectly political and nonsensical in equal measure. There are no dull moments on the overload, with dense lyricism, and catchy melodies- it's almost danceable. Punk is in safe hands with Yard Act.…Expand
At times, its great but most of the time it's a bit better than ok. Although not from the same genre, imagine a post punk version of FranzAt times, its great but most of the time it's a bit better than ok. Although not from the same genre, imagine a post punk version of Franz Ferdinand. A bit silly, a bit sarcastic decent tunes but arguably lacking in soul or gravity. The lyrics can be quite clever and cutting as well as accurate but the lack of variety in the delivery takes from them to an extent. Dry Cleaning did this record last year but with much more originality and quirk. Worth checking out but the hype is extremely questionable.…Expand
The debut album from Yard Act came out of nowhere and it was a welcome surprise... Hard hitting and poignant ideas are a constant themeThe debut album from Yard Act came out of nowhere and it was a welcome surprise... Hard hitting and poignant ideas are a constant theme throughout the record, being delivered in an almost spoken word fashion...
The subject matter is wide spanning from unanimously relatable things such as capitalism guilt, or "the constant burden of making sense", to more UK related social/economic issues. This serves as an interesting view in, being an American...
While being fairly sonically unimpressive on a lot of tracks here (they tend to stick to the very basic post-punk-tinged instrumentalsWhile being fairly sonically unimpressive on a lot of tracks here (they tend to stick to the very basic post-punk-tinged instrumentals throughout the project), I can't deny how happy this album makes me. This band basically has every correct take on how dumb capitalism and corporatism (which are described as the same thing in this album because they are) tend to be as a concept, and isn't afraid to express their takes on this in the most hilarious and witty ways possible. The delivery of these lines also fits the mood as the lead vocalist tends to have a very tongue-in-cheek approach to delivering his lines. The most memorable songs I immediately think of when I think back to the lyricality of this project include "The Overload," "Dead Horse," "Payday," "Rich," "Land Of The Blind," and more. I'm going to keep restating it to the point of redundancy but lyrically, this is possibly the best 2022 release as of yet.
By the way, it's not like I don't enjoy any of these instrumentals. "Land Of The Blind," "Dead Horse," and "Witness" all have very memorable post-punk instrumentals that give the same playful feeling that the vocals do. It's really only on tracks like "Quarantine The Sticks" and "The Incident" that I think the instrumentals sort of ruin what interest I might've had in the song solely based on how skilled of a storyteller the lead vocalist is.
Anyways, this will probably be underrated by people who can't get past some of the instrumentals on here, but for me the lyrics are so instantly memorable that I can all but forget that glaring weakness here. The album length definitely benefits it as well, as it would likely get redundant or repetitive after 4-5 more tracks of the same theme. Pretty excited for whatever this band comes out with next, hopefully with a more diverse sound while keeping the same lyrical quality that made me adore this record in the first place.
BEST TRACKS: The Overload, Dead Horse, Rich, Witness (Can I Get A?), Land Of The Blind, Pour Another
WORST TRACKS: The Incident, Quarantine The Sticks…Expand