Quantcast

Call for Papers: PopMatters Celebrates The Jam in Massive Special Section

Music
cover art

You and Yourn

It Would Make Things Worse

(Parasol; US: 27 Oct 2009; UK: 27 Oct 2009)

On It Would Make Things Worse, You and Yourn play mostly soft and acoustic indie folk, but the central drive of the album is a sense of resistance. Married couple Heather and Nic Dillon speak from a position of engagement, whether against contemporary economic culture (“Commercial Paper”) or the busyness we get caught up in (“Great Lakes”). The pair claw most immediately against the complacency of every day life, not exactly in the fight against quiet desperation that has become cliche, but in a personal opposition to complacency and conformity. In “Double Knots”, the duo’s harmonies admit, “Thought to rebel but found no benefit / So I’ve made peace with it / I’ve done ordinary well”. Of course, that’s no counterrevolutionary anthem but a bit of misdirection. The life proposed on this album is one that’s slow and considered, restlessly in search of something more. With this awareness comes the sense of accidents and regrets (especially on “Guillotine”), but that’s turned from weight into wisdom, as on the closing offer of reasonable hope, “I Can Wait This Out”. It’s a patient album that rewards a patient listen.

Rating:

Justin Cober-Lake lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife, kids, and dog. His writing has appeared in a number of places, including Stylus, Paste, Chord, and Trouser Press. His work made its first appearance on CD with the release of Todd Goodman's first symphony, Fields of Crimson. He's recently co-founded the literary fly-fishing journal Rise Forms.


Comments
Now on PopMatters
Bone and Bell Release Second EP (Mixed Media) [Tue, 10:00 am]
Cannes 2012: Day 9 - 'Student' + 'In the Fog' (Notes from the Road) [Tue, 9:00 am]
The 10 Greatest Aspects of the 'Star Wars' Franchise (Short Ends and Leader) [Tue, 8:00 am]
Devil May Cry: HD Collection (Reviews) [Tue, 6:45 am]
The Walkmen: Heaven (Reviews) [Tue, 2:00 am]
King Tuff: King Tuff (Reviews) [Tue, 2:00 am]
Lake Street Dive: Fun Machine EP (Capsule Reviews) [Tue, 2:00 am]
  1. The Top 10 Overplayed Songs You Hate by Artists You Love (Sound Affects)
  2. Tea with 'Sherlock': Investigating the Investigators (Features)
  3. Sunk? This 'Battleship' Stunk! (Short Ends and Leader)
  4. Tenacious D: Rize of the Fenix (Reviews)
  5. Top Ten Lost Midwest Punk Singles (Sound Affects)
  6. Like 'Doom', In Heels (Moving Pixels)
  7. 10 Pieces of Cinematic Art That Require Revisiting (Short Ends and Leader)
  8. Punk Rock's Pet Sounds: An Interview with Bomb the Music Industry! (Features)
  9. She's a Rainbow: A Tribute to Donna Summer (Features)
  10. Counterbalance No. 82: U2's 'Achtung Baby' (Sound Affects)
  11. 'Albatross': A Not-So-Weighty Coming-of-Age Meets Mid-Life-Crisis Film (Reviews)
  12. Counterbalance No. 83: The Stooges' 'Fun House' (Sound Affects)
  13. We Will Avenge Them Or… Be Avenged?: The Individual in the US Experience (Features)
  14. The Queen and Her Crayons: An Interview With Donna Summer (Features)
  15. The Best Canadian Records of the Year? The Fun Agony of Voting for the Polaris Prize Long List (Sound Affects)
  16. Flash Points: Mommy's Breast, Marriage Equality and Why Chipotle Is King (Features)
  17. Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music (Reviews)
  18. Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death (Columns)
  19. Sherlock Holmes, Dirk Gently and the Case of the Eccentric Detective (Columns)
  20. Early Summer 2012 New Music Playlist (Mixed Media)
  21. In Support of Supports (Moving Pixels)
  22. Flash Points: Chicks, Sluts and Facebook (Features)
  23. In Defense Of... Rock Radio: A Force in Popular Culture (Columns)
  24. The Cult: Choice of Weapon (Reviews)
  25. Garbage: Not Your Kind of People (Reviews)
  26. Willie Nelson: Heroes (Reviews)
  27. 'People's Pornography': The Mundanities of Pornography and Surveillance Culture (Reviews)
  28. Saint Etienne: Words and Music (Reviews)
  29. Feeling '80s Spirit: Post-Hardcore Punk for the Plastic Generation (Columns)
  30. Like a Jack London Story on Steroids: 'The Grey' (Reviews)
PM Picks
Music Archive
Announcements

© 1999-2012 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks
of PopMatters Media, Inc.

PopMatters is wholly independently owned and operated.
PopMatters is a member of BUZZMEDIA Music, MOG and Guardian Select.