The Young Republic - Balletesque

After a sticky spell during which two members jumped ship on the eve of recording, second album Balletesque sees The Young Republic re-emerge to experiment with a number of style changes, and the results are varied. The title track is the spit of Frank Black’s days with the Catholics, from Julian Saporiti’s strained pitch to its boisterous country canter, while The Wolf eases off for a more pedestrian strain of grizzled blues. Though it feels counter-intuitive to criticise innovation, the instrumental embellishments in Sam Clemens prove less successful; its wavering fiddle bursts, brass pomp and other flittering orchestrations are routine rather than revealing. Bows in Your Arms plays more effectively to their strengths, chucking together feedback squeals and a sleazy Cabaret swing to great effect, while rousing finale Tough Year (Hard Waltz) defines its approach in the parenthesis – a winning fusion of Spiritualized-style romanticism and Two Gallants-esque Americana. A patchy pleasure.