There’s an old music industry cliché that follows the notion that a band will always face more difficulty in recording their second album than their debut that came before it. Commonly referred to as the ‘Sophomore Slump’, it is centred around the idea that a band has a lifetime to write their first album and 18 months to write their second, usually from the confines of a tour bus and with the pressures of a record label executive breathing down their neck. In what now feels like a yearly phenomenon, it seems that a band will come out of nowhere with a critically acclaimed debut album, garnering Mercury Prize Nominations and trips to Brixton Academy before following up with a lacklustre second record and being sentenced to a lifetime of playing O2 Academies with their tails firmly between their legs. For Leeds-based quartet Yard Act, the commercial and critical success of their 2022 debut ‘The Overload’ meant that they were staring down the barrel of this exact same fate.
Yet against all odds, they’ve returned with an early contender for album of the year.
Produced by Remi Kakaba Jr of Gorillaz, ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ is an incredibly ambitious record that is littered with hip-hop samples, spoken word pieces and even a children’s choir. However, the group based in West Yorkshire have stuck the landing, with an eclectic, genre-bending eleven songs that sees the four-piece dip in and out of dance-pop, indie-rock, hip-hop and post-punk, showcasing not only how much they have grown creatively since their debut but also the difference in quality between them and their contemporaries. While frontman James Smith spent the majority of Yard Act’s debut ‘The Overload’ musing on the current state of modern Britain and the characters that fall within it, the follow-up is a more personal diary entry, as the 34-year-old explores his own regrets, fatherhood and the uncomfortable pitfalls that comes with success. ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ feels like a perfect development of the raucous sound that garnered the band attention with the earlier material, while also breaking new sonic ground that feels fresh and exciting. The ironic, self-deprecating ‘We Make Hits’ is an early highlight, as Smith recounts a modified version of events surrounding Yard Act’s formation which is presented over an instrumental section that swings more 90s hip hop than it does the post-punk tag the band has been labelled with, which Smith makes clear he is uncomfortable with. ‘I just wanna make a point that the culture would’ve died / and post-punk’s latest poster boys wouldn’t have go to ride on the coattails of the dead / and claim that their derision is a vehicle for their vision of subverting it instead’.
The festival-ready choruses that Yard Act have become synonymous with continue on ‘Dream Job’, meshing 80s dance music with a hint of Talking Heads that proves the band wasn’t being ironic on the aforementioned ‘We Make Hits’.‘Welcome to the future / the paranoia suits ya’ gawks Smith over jaunty, funk-pop production that makes the band’s commentary seem all the more biting, whilst still managing to retain a pop sensibility that has a mainstream appeal. Meanwhile, ‘When The Laughter Stops’ sees the band undertake their first collaboration since their reworked version of ‘100% Endurance’ with the legendary Elton John. While the collaboration with John felt more out of the opportunity to work with a musical icon rather than adding to the music itself, Katy J Pearson’s raspy vocals creates a whole new sonic world that feels different for Yard Act, further highlighting how they have taken their second album as an opportunity to explore new musical realms. Swedish rock-band ‘The Cardigans’ are an obvious reference on this track, yet the half-time signature, aggressive drums and overall eeriness of the song allows for the band to make it their own.
Elsewhere, ‘Down By The Stream’ allows for one of the album’s weirder moments, as Smith recounts a childhood memory of bullying a boy called Johnno ‘that spoke a little slow’ over a revolving drum-loop and anxiety-building guitar riff before making up with him on a school trip over cheap MDMA. Smith ultimately reflects on the memory through the lens of fatherhood, sharing the hope that his own son would never bully someone, an ultimately touching sentiment for a song that hides behind its comedic nature. Yet, it still struggles to top the fever-dream inducing ‘Grifters Grief’ which features a passage that mirrors the flicking through of channels on a television as different spoken and sung lines are presented before the last chorus is concluded with screeching yelps from Smith. It is an incredibly strange yet endearing three minutes, ultimately representing how far Yard Act are willing to go in pursuit of making an interesting song.
While ‘A Vineyard for the North’ may serve as the albums official closer, ‘Blackpool Illuminations’ summarises not only every theme from ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ but every characteristic that James Smith as a lyricist represents. Through a long-winded seven and a half minute spoken word poem that has the frontman barely breaking out of his speaking voice, Smith recalls a childhood memory of going to see the Blackpool Illuminations with his family. Serving as commentary on a child’s relationship with their parents and the memories that stay with us, Smith ultimately flips the story onto his own child, sharing how the utopia he was searching for was found through the family he created. While it may not get belted out by crowds across the UK, it is a truly moving piece of art that may just be the best thing Yard Act have ever released.
Spearheaded by the storytelling ability of frontman James Smith, ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ is a quintessential Yard Act experience, leaving you laughing one moment and thinking about the wider world around you the next. While they may not ever be able to shake the ‘post-punk’ tag bestowed upon them, their second album is a stunning piece of emotional and sonic maturity.
Yard Act will spend the Spring playing some of their biggest shows yet and may even find themselves with a chart-topping album, yet you get the feeling the quartet from Leeds have bigger things on their mind.
After all, Smith’s lyrics at the end of ‘Blackpool Illuminations’ tell us exactly where his priorities lay.
‘I attained perfection with you / I attained perfection / So why the fuck was I wondering what wankers would think of album two’.
Words by Romesh Cruse