By most standards, Young the Giant was a large success. The band's debut produced two major hits in "My Body" and "Cough Syrup," and had solidified themselves as another up-and-coming Cali rock band. As expected, Sameer Gadhia and co. were looking for more on their sophomore effort. Ahh, the dreaded second album has always been a thorn in the side of many great bands. The tough spot where you don't want to stray too far from what got you here yet you certainly don't want to stay content with the sound that you've developed. No matter what any band does they always tend to lose a portion of their fan base in the process. Young the Giant swings right through that slump, and although Mind Over Matter isn't a home run, it has no problem getting on base. A good place to start would be the lead single "It's About Time." I got really excited about this album when I first heard this track, I must admit. This song rocks, and is definitely one of the biggest highlights of the album. From there I noticed a common theme of a band tinkering with layering just a bit too much. There are plenty of decent tracks but few, if any, really distance themselves besides the lead single. "Daydreamer" is a song that could be a huge hit if it weren't for the slightly unnecessary amount of synth. One much improved aspect in this album is the lyricism of Gadhia. Both "Crystallized" and "Mind Over Matter" contain some of the best lyrics I've seen from this band. Another highlight is the range that Gadhia shows off throughout the album. The experiment with more synth and guitar layering is the one aspect I could do without. "Paralysis" sounds like a Killers b-side with the synth/percussion mix. With that being said it is actually one of the better tracks on the album. This isn't any type of breakthrough, but it is definitely progress and evolution from this young band, which is about all you can ask for from them.
Tracks to check out: "It's About Time", "Daydreamer", and "Paralysis"
3/5 Stars
-Jared
Tracks to check out: "It's About Time", "Daydreamer", and "Paralysis"
3/5 Stars
-Jared