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York Redoubt - York Dedoubt
By Brendan MaGee
(2/13/10)

This self-titled album is the first full length release from York Redoubt, a Halifax band who find themselves somewhere between a noise pop and shoegaze sound. Those unfamiliar will see parallels with Japandroids, but with a few happy caveats. Most notably, the bands broader instrumentation gives them more room to play around in.

The resumes of the band members are almost as distinct as their sound. Featuring past and present members of Tomcat Combat, The Pinecones, The Got To Get Got, Hugs, and more, each member brings a different sort of background. Put them altogether, and you get a really original sort of chemistry. Raw percussion, catchy, unrefined guitar riffs, and eerie, yet ethereal vocals sum up the experience that is York Redoubt.

The album sounds deceptively rough around the edges at first. The music seems to strictly follow the emotion it’s based on, and there are times early on when it seems these could be kind of guys that don’t really give a shit what they sound like, though still managing to put out some great material. That’s not to say the rest of the album is made up of clean cut songs, far from it. It hit me during the opening of Are You Still; for a moment, all of the noise was gone and I was left in a quiet reflective place. When the song picked up, it was like becoming one with their music. The intangibility of their sound is entrancing.

The remarkable depth visible on songs like "Stenciled Lines" compliments fun-loving, head-banging numbers like "Division" and "Where The Day Grows." "Mending" provides yet another quiet moment to gather your thoughts, before speeding up and making you want to do anything but sit still. Ultimately the album is a collection of a dozen powerfully played songs that people can identify with on a really grassroots level. Though you may not expect it at first, York Redoubt is a great album to lose yourself, and find yourself in.

Related links:
+ York Redoubt (MySpace)


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Brendan MaGee lives and breathes indie music. He is a journalism student at St. Thomas University and spends his spare time interning at Forward Music Group as well as moonlighting as a DJ on 105.3 FM The Fox in Fredericton.