This 5 track EP from Manchester’s Years sits comfortably between rock, pop and pop punk with its musically rock based riffs, pop tinged lyrics and pop punk choruses. You can probably imagine the kind of sound that Years have, but that’s the problem; what we have here isn’t anything entirely original and there’s nothing that particularly special that makes this EP stand out from the rest of the pack.
Ok, so it’s nothing terrible, but it’s nothing too great either. Opening track ‘Here’s To You’ is the better of the bunch whereas ‘Hide And Seek’ and the metaphor used to represent certain relationships has the potential to be great, but just isn’t. The lyrics seem a little bit cliché at times, but with experience it’s songs like this that show the band can progress as songwriters with the right experience backing them.
The only other thing, which may be good or bad depending on how you look at it, is the vocals. They’re not the most in tune vocals I’ve ever heard, but there’s something really distinctive about them. As in, really distinctive. If you didn’t know you were listening to Years, you might just think that you were listening to You Me At Six. The vocals do sound a lot like that of Josh Franceschi of You Me At Six fame. Now, if you’re a massive fan of YMAS and you need more than the 3 LPs they’ve already released, you might find that ‘All We Have Is Now’ is a way to keep your ears occupied. However, if you’re not their biggest fan then Years may just grate on you a bit. It’s a good vocal timbre, but sadly it’s already taken up by one of the biggest voices of UK pop/pop punk/rock bands.
If You Me At Six are your thing then give the EP a try and help support a young, unsigned band. But, if you don’t listen to this EP, you won’t be losing much sleep over it.
2.5/5
‘All We Have Is Now’ by Years is out now.
Years links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Michael Brown.
