★★★★☆
The final whistle has blown, the teams have hit the showers and You Beauty are left without the prospect of writing conceptually about a fictional footy player, as they did on last year’sJersey Flegg.
It’s a tactic of their own accord, by all accounts – and, if Illywhacka proves anything, it’s this Sydney supergroup-of-sorts is far more than a cheap pop culture reference.
Much like Jersey Flegg, this album deals with a less-than-reputable character (in this instance, a scam artist who seduces rich women on dating sites) with a backdrop of brisk, fine-tuned jangle-pop that arrives with urgency but still exudes enough dynamics to go through peaks and valleys of our hapless anti-hero’s private universe. Vocalist/lyricist Will Farrier has again done a masterful job of seeking pathos and deeper meaning behind the evil that men do – tracks like ‘Take Every Cent’ and ‘Phone Job’ divulge great insight into the motives behind the scammer’s actions, while ‘Same Damn Thing’ turns the tables with impressive results.
You Beauty remain one of the more intriguing bands in contemporary Australian music – highly conceptual without being pretentious, delivering tightly wound song structures without being predictable.
Illywhacka is two from two – and from here on in, the odds look damn good.
You Beauty’sIllywhackais brought to you by Rice Is Nice.
