Well it certainly starts well. The opening track gives a good indication of the sound You Am I have on this record. It actually sounds a lot like something off Nirvana’s own debut, Bleach, that is hard, uncompromising rock.
And, like Nirvana, You Am I prove on the next song that they also have sound pop sensibilities. ‘Berlin Chair’ (from whom fellow Aussie band Silverchair took their name) is a fantastic rock song, wonderfully catchy, and also contains the typically wry lyrics of lead singer Tim Rogers with lines like, “I’m the blankest face that you’ll ever have to forgive”, delivered in his typically earnest fashion. And ‘Trainspottin’’ is also of the same class.
Unfortunately, though, things go downhill from there. That’s not to say that the following songs are bad. They’re certainly not. It’s just that they are maddeningly average. They all have their moments, but generally they are starkly inferior to those mentioned above. This is very frustrating for those who know what this band is capable of.
The one other strong piece of music on Sound As Ever- that is as strong as ‘Berlin Chair’ and ‘Trainspottin’’- is the strangely captivating ‘Jaimme’s Got A Gal’ (Jaimme being Rogers' brother). Strangely captivating because- and You Am I are known for this- on first listen the words and music seem strangely out of synch. In fact, this is the same sensation some people have with a lot of Bob Dylan’s music. But given a few listens it all somehow comes together, and is all the more rewarding for the fact that it took time. Rogers again demonstrates that he has a talent for memorable lines: “The things I promised not to do with you today/Sure need to tonight”.
So it can probably be recognized that Sound As Ever is a record of unfulfilled promise. You Am I clearly reveal themselves as a band of rare talent and sound. However, based on this record at least, they are not wholly deserving of the sometimes hyperbolic praise they receive. This is a good record, but it could have been better.
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