Young Rival - ST

Garage rock needs no revival; bands like The Cynics and the Gruesomes have always carried its torch, so it never truly disappeared in the first place. Then again, outside of a select few, no one knows who The Cynics or The Gruesomes are. Will Hamilton's Young Rival, the latest signing to Sonic Unyon, fare any better? There's a chance. For every familiar throwback to garage's yesterday sound - a nasally harmony here, a twangy guitar there - there is a solid backbone of songwriting that isn't so anachronistic. Their melodies can even conjure bands like Sloan, who built much of their career mixing old and new. Then again, Sloan stayed safely on the contemporary side of the line; Young Rival tend to stay on the other. Even so, the strength of tracks such as "Got What Your Need" and "Ghost in The Park" prove there's more to Young Rival than merely a retro aesthetic.