This Blast of Alt Rock Marksmanship From Young the Giant Proves Timely

It can be said that when all the parts of a team are functioning as a cohesive whole the results can be, at the very least, satisfactory to complete the task at hand and, at most, potentially game changing. The Irvine, California alt rock team known as Young the Giant demonstrates with their new single "It's About Time" that they know their roles and execute them to as close to perfection as mortals get. Payam Doostzadeh imbues his bass guitar with a rumbling quality that only gets better the longer it remains in the mix. For me it's the audio equivalent of a deep, intense back massage. This applies comfort and relief to all the right pressure points. On the other side of the fret spectrum, Jacob Tilley displays a track star's agility with his lead alto guitar. You'll notice more of that as the song scampers its way to the chorus point. As a general rule the bass guitar represents the brawn while alto constitutes the brain power. With Payam and Jacob hammering away all lead vocalist Sameer Gadhia has to is deftly apply his politically charged musings over the top with the delicate but not easily cowed touch of a baker applying icing to his latest master creation. Sameer's to be praised for blowing the doors or eardrums away with his singing. Earnest would be a better adjective. He knows his mind. He doesn't lack for the conviction needed to speak it. Francois Comtois locks the sum of these enticing parts in place with a sharp kick behind drums. If you look at the history of rock music the great ones seem to have a first rate timekeeper around to, if nothing else, make sure the energy of his bandmates isn't flagging. The Stones have Charlie Watts. Metallica has Lars Ulrich. Young the Giant has Francois Comtois. Even though the band hasn't been around for more than ten years yet, give them time. Francois has the makings of a trip to the pantheon of percussion greatness. Looking under the hood of this engagingly clattering car the lyrics don't lack for tension. Today we live our nights on the wire, or so Sameer claims. If you detect more than a trace of sociopolitical danger in the air then good for you. You're obviously more than the tits and ass lyrics strain of music follower. It can't be easy to declare yourself born to be angry, Sameer. Anger's a powerful and, at the right times, justifiable emotion, but history has shown us that it has disastrous consequences when not employed judiciously. Still, Sameer lives on a tightrope. That statement likely sums up what the vast majority of people in this modern global economy see themselves having to do, like it or not. I feel their angst. We're a mighty nation at the mercy of group grieve. I'm won over by the stark shift from four way bang it out musicianship at the outset to pockets of air at the chorus where Francois is momentarily declawed in order to make way for Jacob's supposedly resistance free glide through time and space, notes raining down like mystic gifts from the heavens. Young the Giant opens the door to a mysterious labyrinth of impending danger. This brand of rock isn't uncorked from the sidewalk safe side of the avenue, that's for sure. "It's About Time" won't let you come up for air until you're glistening with the sweat of a crowd of rock devotees that knows it's been topped off with a firm swig of the good stuff.