“Discotech”
from the album Too Young to Fight It
2007
iTunes
MP3 – “Discotech” [right-click/save-as]
Dan Keyes has a vision for his one-man band Young Love, and it’s fully realized in the opening track of his debut album, Too Young to Fight It. Following the path of artists like Bloc Party and (gulp!) Panic! at the Disco, who dragged indie-rockers out of their dimly lit bar seats and onto the dance floor, Keyes has taken the next logical step: dialing the rock down to almost nothing; a garnish for the electronic centerpiece. “Discotech” combines shrill guitars with new wave synth to make a deliciously catchy dance tune. Whereas Bloc Party’s “Helicopter” might need to be remixed to fill the room, “Discotech” is pressed club-ready.
Dan Keyes wasn’t always cutting up Brooklyn night clubs with his soaring vocals and infectious beats. He left his old band Recover and a major-label deal back in Austin, Texas. Their last album, the ironically titled This May Be the Year I Disappear, was released by Universal in 2004 and Keyes moved to New York shortly after to start Young Love. Keyes hasn’t left all the trappings of his former Recover identity behind, however. “Tragedy,” “Underneath the Night Sky,” and “Close Your Eyes” are decent guitar driven songs right out of the Killers mold. While not bad, they come off stiffer than a line of old ladies dancing the “Electric Slide” next to the glitzier tracks.
It’s when Keyes sticks to club-hopping anthems that everything clicks. “Find a New Way” (which combines a spine-to-glass guitar sample and a heart pumping beat), “Take It or Leave It” and the title track will have you all strutting and cavorting like you were born to do it. Keyes’ vocals ascend the electronic noise, effortlessly affecting each lyric with power and emotion. Every element has room to breathe, cutting out without grating against each other. Guitars lead to beats lead back to guitars, making danceable indie-pop that doesn’t make a huge mess trying to be too many things at once.
The album has its share of misses, which occur every time Keyes sings about (ironically) young love. Keyes never shows a knack for clever storytelling like Alex Turner nor does he have the dramatic flair of Brendon Urie. The entire record is filled with humdrum lyrics that are made compelling by Young Love’s wicked sound, but on tracks like “Nameless One,” “Give Up,” and “Closer to You” the band devolves into something you can’t tell from the latest remix on a Ministry of Sound compilation. Which is what I expect when I buy a DJ’s record, but Young Love is billed as a band. That leaves Keyes pedestrian lovelorn tales on the killing block. Which is fitting, because partying is what early twenty-somethings are great at. Love is what you figure out much, much later.
It will be interesting to see where Young Love goes from here. This record shows promise, with a couple tracks that will be spinning at parties and in clubs for years. Whether it’s in the role of classic or footnote, time will tell.