Alpine have never had much trouble standing out. With their debut EP, Zurich, and 2012 LP A Is for Alpine, not only did their sound reach beyond the immediate indie-rock spectrum, but it came with an accessibility that belied their genre-defiant nature, resulting in some of the more interesting music coming out of Melbourne at the time.
Returning this year with the single Foolish, the band’s sophomore LP showed similar promise. If the rest of Yuck’s tracklist bore similarity to Foolish, that promise would be kept. The song is a phenomenal piece of work; all French pop strings and Nile Rodgers chord inversions on chirpy nylon string guitar. Placed second in the tracklist, Foolish is surrounded by the lush Come On and the hypnotically bouncy Crunches, both of which are charming in their own way.
Unfortunately, we then hit a slump, where it’s all light programming and heavy vocals. At this point, the band’s four instrumentalists are made subordinate to Alpine’s dual frontwomen. As the album continues in this fashion, it feels like a deep exploration into a stylistic region that offers little reward. And yet, it’s bafflingly pursued.
It’d be childish to dismiss Yuck by making recourse to the album’s title. All that should be said is Alpine are capable of a lot better.
BY DAVID JAMES YOUNG
