Yeah Yeah Noh - Automatically Saturday
by Anthony Strutt
published: 8 / 9 / 2015

Label:
Vuggum
Format: CD
intro
Fine but overdue return from Oadby's best band Yeah Yeah Noh, who have with this released their second studio album thirty years after their debut album
Yeah Yeah Noh are, as far as I am aware, Oadby's only band ever. Now based between the equally sleepy Leicestershire small town of Market Harborough and Birmingham, Yeah Yeah Noh reformed after an absence of twenty-five years for guitarist John Grayland's fiftieth birthday in 2012. Originally part of the undercurrent of the C-86 movement, they still sound as quirky as ever but also remarkably fresh. On 'Let's Start a War', the opening track of 'Automatically Saturday', their second studio album and first since 1985, they sound like a band very much in control. The vocals by Derek Hammond are reminiscent of those of a youthful Morrissey, while 60's keyboards edge in and out and the cutting riffs of the guitars are enough to please any past fan. 'In a Loop in Time' is like an upbeat Wedding Present. This grips you with something urgent to say while also making your feet want to move too. The title track has a disco post poppy punk feel like Kraftwerk overdosing on New Order. 'She Pulls the Petal from the Flower' is foot-tapping indie for the old folks. It sounds familiar, but also fresh and ripe. 'Buttercup Close' is a psychedelic number, while on 'Poetic Delivery' their maturity shines through. 'Shooting from the Hip' features the vocals of seonc vocalist Sian Howarth, and sounds like Sandie Shaw fronting the Smiths or the Beautiful South with an odd touch of Devo thrown in. 'On the Queen's Highway' is doom-laden and Gothic, and full of dark atmosphere, is reminiscent of the Cure and Joy Division. 'The Second House from the Corner' sounds like a house version of the Teardrop Explodes. 'Up on the Downs' is a jangly indie pop number, while 'Smoking, Running, Petting, Pushing' has a new wave edge and, funky in tone, most unlike anything the band have done before. 'Slipstream Dream' features a dramatic vocal from Howarth, and is a classic Kylie-style pop number. 'The Family of Love' once again features Howarth and ends the album in the style of the Beautiful South. A fine if somewhat overdue return.
Track Listing:-
1 Let's Start a War2 In a Loop in Time
3 Automatically Saturday
4 She Pulls the Petal from the Flowe
5 Buttercup Close
6 Shooting from the Hip
7 On the Queen's Highway
8 The Second House from the Corne
9 Up on the Downs
10 Smoking, Running, Petting, Pushin
11 Slipstream Dream
12 The Family of Love
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yeah-Yeah-Noh/179922345453384https://twitter.com/yeahyeahnoh1
interviews |
Interview Part 2 (2013) |
![]() |
In the second part of our interview with 80's Leicestershire-based indie experimental/psychedelic act Yeah Yeah Noh, Anthony Strutt speaks to guitarist John Grayson about their recent reformation |
Interview Part 1 (2013) |
soundcloud
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Liz Mitchell - Interview
Lauren Mayberry - Photoscapes
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Garfunkel and Garfunkel Jr. - Interview
Sukie Smith - Interview
Maarten Schiethart - Vinyl Stories
Clive Langer - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the JumboNigel Stonier - Wolf Notes
Wings - Venus and Mars
Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn - Songs For The Trees
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Neil Campbell - The Turnaround
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Darkness - Dreams On Toast
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Charles Ellsworth - Cosmic Cannon Fodder
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart