by Alex Monzel
Revolutionaries, the sophomore release from You Won’t, is an immersive joy-ride of a record. The product of “10,000 hours spent banging foreheads against walls” (their words, not mine), this album is worth the almost certain concussions the two members of You Won’t were hopefully hospitalized for.
Josh Arnoudse’s distinct vocals lends themselves well to the memorable hooks in “No Divide” and “Jesus Sings.” Raky Sastri’s perplexing percussion never fails to catch your interest as in “1-4-5.” These are two incredible individuals who make it seem unfair for one band to have that much talent in it. Also, never have I related so much to a song as I have with “Douchey.”
While they certainly haven’t created a new genre, You Wont’s sound possesses quite a few unique qualities. For instance, did you know that you can make an indie record that actually has decent production value? Neither did I until I heard this record.
The breadth of the instrumentation is staggeringly cool and the self-produced aspect is impressive, however these are actually this record’s biggest deficit. Having constraints (time, number of instruments, etc.) can help shape a record, or any art, in ways the artist might not have thought of without them. [Some incredible films have been produced with budgets of zero dollars]
It felt like they were too close or perhaps too attached to their record. Without some rigidity in their process or an outside opinion, Revolutionaries didn’t seem to be the revolutionary record (pardon the pun) that it could have been. This is absolutely not a reason to write You Won’t or this record off, rather it’s a wish for whatever they come up with next.
Revolutionaries rewards avid listeners with something new to discover on each playthrough. The first listen is just a lot of fun with catchy hooks and driving beats. Then you start to notice these intricate arrangements with ridiculous instrumentation that happens to always sound good. Then it hits you with the lyrics, the stellar production value, and leaves you excited to see what you’ll discover next.
Rating: 8.0/10
