Young Rebel Set, take note!

After a rather much-needed lull of escapism as it clambered into the disheartening depths of awkwardness and mortification, pop music is back in the driving seat of our countries music culture. Forceful and fierce, gimmick-coated, hook-ladden glimmering glitter-dust pop that’s as sugar-sweet as a 90s Gerri Halliwell mini-skirt and as catchy as a swine flu infected brothel: and as we revel in these candied synths and excessive diamond encrusted head-sets, we’re sat wondering, is it time for GaGa and co. to ram the mop-topped, scuffed-up indie darlings of our generation into a declining vat of nothingness as dance routines, million dollar outfits and wigs made of fucking unicorn hair take over?

It’s true, to some extent, that the last couple of years in the ‘indie’ world have actually been half decent, but lacking in something, right? There was a buzz in 2005 with the explosion of the Eel Pie Island gang who bought a new lease of life to the struggling post-Brit pop generation who realised we could go a little left-field with this whole damn façade and still retain a mutual level of creativity and pop-appeal.

Now, however, I feel a little distant from everything. I’m not into this dubstep disease that’s infecting the nation, I don’t really like that electro stuff either, and sadly I feel that bands such as Drive-By Truckers, The Low Anthem, The Feliece Brothers et al. who are all amazing bands, will never get the attention they deserve by the people of Britain, bar a few anyway. That’s probably why I’m excited about Young Rebel Set.

Hailing from Stockton On Tees, the Young Rebel Set have the capabilities of crooning their way through piano-tickling ballads of distinct Britishness, pop-top folky jaunts and heart-wrenching anthems that echo the likes of Springsteen and, in parts, even Dylan, as they craft a very noticeably grubby brand of undeniable urban folk-pop.

The song writing has all the fervour of Craig Finn’s working class Hold Steady rock ‘n’ roll with a popped-up country twang. The title track of the Young Rebel Set’s most recent e.p, ‘Walk On’, is a richly woven piano canvas of profound anthemic credentials: insightful and notoriously catchy, and although track two, ‘Borders’, offers little in the way of variation from the previous, it’s penned wisdom tells a gritty tale of love’s radiant conflict, followed by the sombre strumming of ‘Yorkshire Banks’, a heart-rending anti-cheer of necessity vs. morality.

We have the Young Rebel Set playing Lennons on April 17th. Exciting!

I think Mark Beaumont put it perfectly when he said, ‘although the synth-pop may be dominating the ‘ones to watch list’ British rock and roll is alive and beckoning…’