The Young Republic - '12 Tales From Winter City' (End Of The Road) Released 28/01/08

It’s difficult to decide what to make of a record that sounds like a coalition between country pop and jazz. On the plus side, some quite brilliant artists have come out of similar influences. To give you a quick heads up, there are (good) moments on this record that willingly appropriate the stench of Belle and Sebastian, Ryan Adams and Camera Obscura; a odour not too insidious we’re sure you’ll agree. The downside is that there’s nothing that particularly grasps with your conscience about this record; no nagging sensation in your subconscious to replay it for example, not stick a particular track on repeat. Granted, when played in perfunctory moments, there’s certainly pleasantness about it. What The Young Republic provides us with is a blend of country pop which wouldn’t sound out of place played at Oxfordshire’s Truck Festival.

Because of the scope of the record, boasting eight musicians with obvious orchestral mindfulness, there’s a vast range of musical melodies swirling under the surface. There are some moments on ‘She Comes She Goes’ for example that are nod to some of Sufjan Steven’s earlier work. On other tracks like ‘Modern Plays’ and ‘Girl From the Northern States’ they look to Belle and Sebastian for their influences. But it’s tracks such as ‘Paper Ships’ that get under your skin. I cannot get over my personal dislike for Julian Saporriti’s vocal talents, which means I probably cannot give the record the impartial recognition it possibly deserves. When co-vocals are used, they strengthen the glue that holds it all together; but the overabundance of Saporriti’s vocals, grate on these very nerves.

A couple of year’s back I saw Fields at Sonic Cathedral and made the very same observation; that the lead singer should let the female vocalist lead. I can’t help thinking that this is the very problem with this record. There is so much going on that leading with weak vocals is letting the side down. They’d be best off taking a leaf out of Los Campesinos’ books and letting the girls’ vocals dominate some of the vocal structures. Where they do implement this theory, on ‘Goodbye Town’ the outcome is very sweet indeed. Despite this short coming, the strength of complex musical compositions and melodic backing vocals pull this album out of what would, otherwise, be a pretty mundane debut.