The nineties; an era Yuck were probably too busy flipping Pogs and teething through to take note of musically. It would appear however that they’ve played a successful game of catch up with this, their eponymous album.

Clouded engagements never got in the way for the band in the past incarnation however, half-raised from the ashes of GCSE-sitters Cajun Dance Party – the band who signed to XL in their mid-teens and still managed to prove that Newton was correct about gravity. With Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom taking on the project of Yuck being the most plausible reason behind Cajun Dance Party’s decision to call it quits, its easy to understand why some fans would have their reservations before adopting this new born with open arms.

Ultimately, nobody likes a murderer. There’s also nothing more impotent than a British frontman singing with an American twang as a song reaches its chorus, but when you account that the other half of Yuck hail from across the globe (Drummer Jonny Rogoff comes from Los Angeles whilst Mariko Doi, the bands bassist is from Japan), it becomes mandatory to check any hesitation at the door and join in – gazing at your toes and humming along in the process.

Notably, Yuck have managed to pay homage to the greats of the noise rock movement by dipping their fingers in the gene pool of Thurston Moore, Kevin Sheilds and Stephen Malkmus with Operation, Georgia and Suck, respectively on this record.

There are some moments of lo-fi fuzz fraternizing, and there are the few elusive moments as soon as you take your headphones off and wonder back into the present day. In retrospect its difficult to determine whether ‘Yuck’ is indeed a clever homage or more like of a pastiche record aesthetically. Once you take a step back it’s easy to recognise that where brilliant at least, Yuck are a clear and bold step forward. Well, as clear as distortion and pedals allow you to be…

Words by Anant Naik