Knock Alley West
Yardsale
SELF-RELEASED
It isn’t always easy to know
from which angle Yardsale is coming. One
moment, this Louisville combo grits its
teeth and charges at you with a riff-based
rocker (“Until I Can’t Remember”), the next
it tugs at your heart with sublime pop
(“Reflection”). Throw in happy hooks like
the ones in “The Bullet That You Dodge (May
Be Your Own),” and it just makes twangy
stompers like “Dream of Amarillo” seem
directly out of left field. The suspenseful,
steamy “Mississippi’s Flooding” comes from
nowhere and makes for a gorgeous midway
point. If there is a criticism, it’s perhaps
that Yardsale can overdo it with overdubs
(sometimes it seems too many people are
singing at once), but at the same time,
every track adds value. So even while it may
seem on first listen that Yardsale isn’t
sure what it wants to be, this collection is
well-crafted enough to be sticky. Thus,
Knock Alley West sounds better every
time you listen, and before you know it, you
no longer care about angles. That’s probably
the best compliment for any band.