Stranger Things is the third and final studio album by UK-based indie rock band Yuck, released on Mamé Records on 26 February 2016.[3][4][5] The album was produced by frontman Max Bloom over a period of several months in 2015 in his parents' house in London.[2][6][7] The album's release was preceded by three singles: "Hold Me Closer";[8][9][10] "Hearts in Motion";[4][11] and "Cannonball".[1][12]
Background and recording
In April 2013, original lead singer and guitarist Daniel Blumberg left the band.[13] Guitarist Max Bloom subsequently took over duties as frontman and the band was joined by guitarist Ed Hayes as an official member that August.[14][15] Yuck released its sophomore studio album Glow & Behold on Fat Possum Records on 30 September 2013 to mixed reviews.[16]
After touring in support of Glow & Behold,[17] the band self-released the Southern Skies EP in April 2014.[18] Yuck signed with indie label Mamé Records in 2015 and released the single "Hold Me Closer" on 8 July via SoundCloud the same year.[8]
On 12 January 2016, Yuck announced the album title as Stranger Things[3] and release date of 26 February.[4][5] The same day, Yuck revealed the album artwork, released the second single, "Hearts in Motion", and announced a North American spring tour.[3] In an accompanying press release, Bloom stated: "[The band] basically spent no money on the record and it was a really relaxed way of doing things[.]"[6] The album was recorded in London primarily in Bloom's parents' house[7] where Yuck had previously recorded its 2011 self-titled debut album.[6] The band recorded the drum tracks at a nearby rehearsal studio.[5] The band posted a video announcing pre-orders for the album on its official YouTube channel three days later.[19]
On 2 February 2016, "Cannonball" was released as the third single from the album.[1][12]
Composition
‘Hearts In Motion’ is a song about how we deal with relationships. We’re all just blasting through space on a huge rock, so what’s the point in maintaining a relationship? Is it all just doomed to failure, or is it the one thing that we should be holding on to the most in this world? Who knows!
— Max Bloom, regarding the lyrical content of the second single[7]
Stranger Things is a departure from the softer, shoegaze-esque sound of the Southern Skies EP.[20] The album was inspired by "UK postpunk"[2] and 90's alternative rock bands such as Dinosaur Jr. and Built to Spill.[6] Max Bloom described the songs "Swirling", "Like a Moth", and "I'm OK" as "remarkably gentle"[21] and referred to the latter as "a very personal song because it's just about the anxiety I've been feeling over the last couple of years[.]"[6] Bassist Mariko Doi performs lead vocals on the song "As I Walk Away", which, according to Bloom, was "quite influenced" by her solo work.[2] Chris DeVille from Stereogum favorably compared "Hearts in Motion" to Transmissions from the Satellite Heart-era Flaming Lips,[22] while Tom Breihan from the same website described "Cannonball" as "a blazing, amped-up blast of fuzz-guitar tunefulness[.]"[12] Writing for the webzineOverblown, Jamie Coughlan referred to the lead single "Hold Me Closer" as "euphoric".[9][11]
Release and promotion
On 17 February 2016, about a week before the album's official release, Stranger Things became available for streaming via NPR.[23][24] The previous day, Yuck uploaded a live performance of "Hearts in Motion", with James Thomas from Parakeet (Mariko Doi's side-project) temporarily filling in for Jonny Rogoff on drums.[25] The band announced spring tour dates in the United Kingdom in support of the album[24] and uploaded a short promotional comedic video on YouTube of the band member's fathers recommending purchasing the album.[26]
Stranger Things has received mixed to positive reviews. On Metacritic, the album has a normalized score of 62 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[35] El Hunt from DIY gave Stranger Things four out of five stars, writing "Yuck craft their most immediate, and inescapable record to date[.]"[29] Jesse Nee-Vogelman from Slant gave the album a negative review, calling the album "often little more than a poor imitation of [Yuck's] earlier sound."[34] In a mixed review for Exclaim!, Pierre John Felcenloben cited an "overemphasis on influences" that made the record "more recognizably likeable than imaginative."[30]