There is no shortage of earnest young men (and women) wearing plaid shirts, wielding acoustic guitars and pouring forth with jaunty tunes, high harmonies and rousing choruses.
Dublin five-piece The Young Folk are the latest. On the evidence of this accomplished debut, they’ll soon be among the best of them. The melodies are memorable, the harmonies precise,the playing impeccable.
Opener ‘My Friends’ blends gospel and bluegrass, creating a rhapsodic belter of a tune. ‘Remember When’ boasts a beautiful string arrangement with elements of wistful psychedelia; the rousing, exuberant ‘Letters’ and the even more propulsive ‘Sad Day’ whip up a storm – they surely must be live highlights. Elsewhere, the soft shuffle of ‘Way Home’ and the finger-picked mandolin on ‘Way Down South’ showcase their ease and comfort in the genre. Dark and foreboding, closer ‘Drunken Head Little Battle’ is in contrast to the generally uplifting swagger. A highly impressive debut.
Out Now.