One of the most anticipated releases of the year, here’s The Young Sinclairs’… 8th (?) album. It’s called This Is the Young Sinclairs and is out now on Ample Play. As completists will know, the Sinclairs have had a habit of repeating songs over several releases. The new LP is no exception, with the a-side collecting single tracks from the last five or so years. It’s a fantastic chance to own signature YS tracks like “You’re Tied” and “Mona Lisa”, that have only been available on tape before. The devout fan will even also have heard the beautifully languid “Never Uneasy”, a demo of which was posted a few years ago.
The biggest surprise may be the inclusion of a track from singer Sam Lunsford’s self-titled debut album on the a-side. “I Just Wanted to Help” was one of the best of that set of West Coast soft psychedelia. But in fact, this number sets the tone for the rest of the LP – as you flip it over – the Young Sinclairs sound even more like the one-man-band it’s more or less become the last few years. It is less jangly, more stripped but at the same time laden with studio finery. Just like on Sam’s solo LP these bare-bones arrangements really highlight his prowess with a melody. “That’s All Right” could a been a long lost Dylan demo sung down a phone line. There are echoes of Colin Blunstone and Emmitt Rhodes here and there, and the standout track is “Dead End Street” with its shuffling drums and tugging vocal sounding like it could have drifted in through the window on a San Francisco street in 1968. It will no doubt be interesting to see what Lunsford/YS can churn out in this vein in the future. This stuff here is already timeless.
