"Young Modern" - front cover
A review of "Young Modern" by Silverchair
The occasional tracks I had heard of Silverchair in the past did not impress me: not the copycat grunge of their early stuff nor the "try hard with too little" approach on Diorama. I simply couldn't believe it when "Young Modern" won a clear "Best Album" at Australia's ARIA awards and decided I would give it a try before bagging it. You know it's not everyday that one is happy to be proved wrong but this was such a day! WHAT A CHANGE!!!
Now I know there are many Silverchair fans who want the band to stay back in their teenage angst, but for the rest of us it is a great blessing when a talented young man grows up and sheds the too-small skin of the boy. This is a wonderful offering, flinging away grunge for ever and serving up masses of interesting melody, unusual harmony, quirky rhythmic changes, rich multi-layered backings, beautiful singing, eclectic topics and absolutely bizarre lyrics. I don't know how much of this new direction is due to Daniel Johns himself and how much is due to Van Dyke Parks (orchestral arranger) or Nick Launay (producer), but it really is good stuff! Well done Daniel, you really have come of age!
Let me start with MELODY. Before Rock n Roll was invented all songs had melody, the stronger the melody the better the song. Remember "Daisy Bell" or "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean"? You might be contemptuous of these great old classics but everyone knows them, and you can sing them unaccompanied. Alas, with drum based music the emphasis shifted to chords and rhythm and thus it is that very little rock music has a melody to speak of. The few that do are usually ballads and usually become big hits, like "Stairway to Heaven", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "November Rain" etc. The rest have the singer just hanging on to some note in the chord, such as "Born in the USA" or "The Ace Of Spades", or moving up or down the scale one note a time like "Bed Of Roses" or "You And Your Hand". Jumps of more than a note (other than the jump up for the chorus) have become rare, even more so melodies that jump up and down and up and down. Well Silverchair have changed all that with this new modern album. Most of the songs have inventive and even tricky melodies, really quite unlike anything else going on in contemporary pop. As a writer of melodies myself I heartily applaud this reintroduction of the heart of song by Mr Johns. Not that the melodies on this album can stand unaccompanied like "Happy Birthday" or "La Marseillaise" but they are a great step in the right direction.
And this brings me to Daniel Johns' singing on this album which is truly first rate: high, clear and strong with a lovely falsetto used just occasionally. Tasteful, tasteful, just perfect! I think it's time he passed on the guitar duties and just sang. His voice is the key to this album; everything revolves around it. It's a wonderful strength to have, let's hope he looks after it.
And now the arrangements, which are the most immediately obvious difference to previous Silverchair incarnations: this album is full of vocal harmonies, doo doo choruses male and female, string arrangements and multi-layered guitars, generally in the background, and pianos, yes pianos aplenty. No grunge guitar, no lead breaks, no riffs, all gone, and it's great! The 3 piece thing is just too thin, even the famous 3 piece bands like Cream and Jimi Hendrix added extra parts in the studio, you just have to, otherwise you simply can't build a full harmonic concept. You need at least 1 bass, 1 chordal instrument and one melodic instrument as a minimum, plus vocals and drums. Having accepted the inevitability of this, Johns and Launay have gone the whole hog and literally stuffed the soundstage full of parts, and they should be applauded for having the courage to do so.
Of course this means Silverchair as a three piece are no more. To do justice to this stuff live they would need at least two keyboard players, a 3 piece vocal harmony section and 2 guitarists. Keep Chris Joannou on bass and Ben Gillies on drums who are both doing quality work, and let Mr Johns concentrate exclusively on his singing. Voila! Silverchair reform as a 10 piece ensemble. Way to go!
The songs on this album are almost all good, especially the first half. "Those Thieving Birds" just can't topped though and "The Man That Knew Too Much" which follows it brings the album down a peg or too where it stays. Not that the remaining songs are bad (except for "Mind Reader" which doesn't belong), they're just not as good as "Young Modern Station", "Straight Lines", "Reflections of a Sound", "If You Keep Losing Sleep" and "Those Thieving Birds". Still, that's a pretty damn good lineup of songs for an album these days and full kudos to Johns for coming up with them.
And now the bad thing: The lyrics. This is automatic writing; streams of unconscious images strung together any old how. Do they make sense? Generally not! I'll just give you a few examples: from Strange Behaviour: "Only eat with uncles, Never talk to strangers, God is in the kitchen, Faking baby dangers" from The Man Who Knew Too Much: "I'm not your mocking bird, That sings your cellar song, She got a paper run, You're compensated" and my favourite, from If You Keep Losing Sleep: "Such seductive silent wine hop scotch true regard". Cute in a post modern way perhaps, but I like a some pithy meaning. Too many people ignore the importance of words. Songs can stand on words alone. Words give a song power and dignity that melody and arrangement alone cannot. Just look at Bob Dylan or Kev Carmody. "Blowin' in the Wind" might be crap musically, but it will be remembered long after "Young Modern" is forgotten, because of its words. Much as I love this album, the lack of meaning prevents me giving it 5 stars. Of course maybe the "Post Modern" lyrics are appropriate on the "Young Modern" album... I'm giving you an excuse here Daniel. Take the lifeline... But try and write sense on your next effort dude.
So there it is. I have had to eat my doubt and wholeheartedly concur with the ARIA vote. I just keep playing it, and there is no higher praise than that. Well done to all concerned.
4/5
Warren Mars - 11 January, 2008