(pair of mirrors)

#20. Yuck – Yuck.

“Shook Down” 

Ah, the ‘90s.

That magical decade during which plaid shirts, high-waisted jeans, and scrunchie ponytails were worn without the slightest trace of irony. ‘90s is the long-gone decade during which indie rock was young, brazen, and rough around the edges. No one could play properly, no one could sing properly, and no one cared – it was all in the name of grunge, remember?

Full disclosure – I really really really love the ‘90s. I lament the fact that I was between the ages of 2 and 12 during those prolific years. I would have been one of those people who mourned Kurt for months after his death. I would have been there for Woodstock ’95, to witness one of Shannon Hoon’s most iconic (and, sadly, among his last) performances. When Hoon died in ’95 of a cocaine overdose, literally months after Kurt Cobain, I would have mourned him too. Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, Blind Melon, and, ohmygod, Nirvana – these are among my favorite bands of all time, not just the ‘90s.

So, when an album like Yuck by Yuck shows up, I rejoice. Yuck is an appeal to my more grunge sensibilities. But, unlike a lot of the music that defined the ‘90s, Yuck does not take any getting used to. The album manages to be catchy and listenable, even though half of it is drowned out in feedback and reverb. It also helps that the subject matter is so relatable – Yuck is about being young, and about growing up. Marc Hogan captured the spirit of the album with his description of Yuck in a Pitchfork piece – “a deeply melodic, casually thrilling coming-of-age album for a generation that never saw Nirvana on 120 Minutes.” Yep.

The melody of “Shook Down”, for instance, is simple and straightforward. Like the majority of what Yuck does, “Shook Down” operates on little more than four guitar chords. Up until the third minute of the song, the whole thing rhymes and bops every two verses to a sweetly vague but very catchy chorus. But don’t let this fool you; around the 3:00 mark the song just breaks:

You could be my destiny,

You could mean that much to me…

The line is repeated over and over again. There is power, there is intensity, there is conviction. And, hell yes, there are ever so many guitars.

Much of the album follows the formula of “Shook Down.” But instead of becoming tiresome, the simple, youthful, and yearning proclamations that permeate Yuck’s freshman work become more endearing every time you listen to the album. Combined with the nostalgia evoked by the general ‘90s-ness of the record, you’ll be reminiscing in no time about you high-school ex “Georgia”; the time you told her, in a less-than lucid state, that you can be her “suicide policeman”; and even that awkward moment when you wailed – at the top of your lungs – “I’m holding out for you!”

- L