Young Tradition - Northern Drive

by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 20 / 8 / 2005

Label: Matinee Recordings
Format: CD

Sweet, summery indiepop on debut album from the Young Tradition, the new band of Brent Kenji, the former frontman with much missed San Francisco act the Fairways, and Swedish musician Erik Hanspers

Review

I guess I wasn’t alone in shedding a tear or two when the Fairways called it a day a few years ago. They had recorded one of the best albums of the century so far, 'Is Everything Alright?', and even though we got a farewell album last year , aptly titled 'This is Farewell', consisting of compilation tracks and EP tracks, I did miss the sweet voice of Brent Kenji. But then suddenly The Young Tradition released their first EP, 'California Morning', and as I suspected, it was brilliant. The band is made up of Brent and his Swedish friend Erik Hanspers, who handles all the instruments. That first single was actually made on two different continents, with Erik recording all the music in his home country, and Brent recording his vocals in San Francisco. The indiepop equivalent to Postal Service, one might say. Now, the two has recorded their first full-length album, and if you liked the EP, you will not be disappointed, believe me. The sweet, summer-ish sound of California is still there, and bands like the Byrds and the Mamas and The Papas (if you can ignore the fact that there are not a lot of female vocals here) keeps passing through my mind. There is no doubt that Mr Hanspers is something of a musical genius, and the fact that no-one here in Sweden seems to have heard of him is a mystery to me. Who is this guy? Anyway, if you like your indiepop to be heavily influenced by the soft pop of the 60’s, with a touch of jazz (as in 'Pink Opaque' or 'Footprints'), this is the record to buy! And… welcome back Brent!

Track Listing:-

1 Gone Are The Days
2 California Morning
3 Pink Opaque
4 Footprints
5 Triangle
6 Northern Drive
7 Now You Know
8 Whores
9 Endlessly
10 Everything We Knew