Charly Bliss - Young Enough

Charly Bliss’ sophomore album, Young Enough, may be the saddest thing you hear all year.  After the promise of their debut album, Guppy, you might have expected a little more cleaned up and amped up sound their next time out, but Young Enough is a bridge too far.  It’s a full blown big sound pop album, at the hands of producer Joe Chiccarelli, and the group is not the better for it.  Eva Hendricks’ twisted taffy vocals are versatile enough to escape most of the damage and salvage several of the songs, but the rest of the band, particularly her poor older brother Sam on drums, are pulverized into an indistinguishable existence.

The opening ‘Blown To Bits’ is a battling swirl of synths and bass drum kick that signals the seismic upheaval of the band’s earlier sound.  At least the song is appropriately titled.  Each punch of the drum pedal feels like the sound of an indie band losing its wings.  Hendricks has professed her love of pop music in anticipation of Young Enough’s release, but there are just too many forgettable “ready for radio” songs like ‘Under You’ and ‘Bleach’ that sink the album.  And as sensitive as the subject of ‘Chatroom’ is, in reaction to a sexually abusive relationship, the chorus of “I want to see you stripped down naked” seems more likely to inspire bad behavior.  The audience that the sounds of these songs are targeted for are not likely to be listening for lyrical nuances.

Thankfully there are a handful of songs scattered over the album that are too buoyant to be sunk.  The first single off the album, ‘Capacity’, has countervailing synth lines that are hard to resist and when Hendricks’ vocals ping pong in and out of them it’s a standout moment.  The theme of having it up to here at the expense of yourself is a timely one.  “I’m at capacity, I’m spilling out of me” captures the sense of it well.  The slightly subtler chug of ‘Camera’, that opens up a bad day with a credit card hack, shows off some songwriting smarts.  In spite of the big drums on the title song, it is a showcase for Hendricks’ vocals and the moments of escalating synths/keyboards help to further cement it as a winner. 

If you came here looking for a step forward from Guppy, it’s hard to pick out the vestiges of that promising album.  ‘Hard to Believe’ may come the closest with its racing guitar line, but the buzz is outdone by the sheen.  If this is the sound the band was looking for it probably results in a different fan base.  No doubt Hendricks and her band can construct a great pop song (and their high energy live set is worth checking out), but most of what’s happening on Young Enough is too covered up in a lather to know what’s going on underneath.