Customer Reviews

Convicts

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

That Tim Rogers and You Am I truly are the "World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band" is, of course, disputable. However, this latest entry to their catalog is strong evidence that they deserve the title. They deliver the rawest rock sound since the early days with "Hi-Fi Way". Make no mistake though, "Convicts" is not a rehash of those earlier hard rocking days. It avails itself of the great progression in Tim Rogers' ability to craft rock songs. There are twelve gems here. No throwaways. It is a great album. The second disc, the bonus live album, is disappointing. The lead vocals are supplied by members of other Australian rock bands. If the purpose is to demonstrate how superior Tim Rogers' versions of these songs are compared to these other vocalists, the disc definitely succeeds. Bottom line: buy "Convicts" for the great studio album.

For a four-year span ending in 1987, the Replacements successfully blended feral punk abandon with poignant lyrics that detailed the perpetually out-of-sync life of a misfit. Sydney's You And I are similar; able to construct literate-but-rough-edged three-minute epics that spike adrenaline levels as they tug at your heart strings.

The rousing "Gunslingers" is probably best; its Hammond B3 organ providing a launchpad for some truly joyful guitar noise. But there really isn't a weak song in the bunch: "Thuggery", "The Sweet Life", "Constance George" and the Damned-ish "Thank God I've Hit the Bottom" are all just waiting to corrupt your volume control's sense of decency.

In a world as networked and wired as ours, it's hard to believe a band as good as You Am I could remain under radar for so long. 'Convicts' is so good I assumed it was a compilation by a five-year old band finally getting their break in America. But it turns out that this is just You And I's most-recent work, and that they've been at it since the mid-nineties.

While 'Convicts' puts you at risk for a speeding ticket, that doesn't mean you should take a pass on its beautiful noise. That's why we have radar detectors, isn't it?

Incredible mix of Replacements sloppy swagger and energetic Jam or Kink rock. The first 3 songs really stand out and leave you with that fist-pump, catchy chorus kind of happiness. This is for anyone who wished the Replacements never ended or just want to once again realize that there are bands out there still making energetic, hard rock (not all the world listens to pop, hip hop and emo). If you want to preview a song somewhere the real gem on the cd is "It Ain't Funny How We Don't Talk Anymore." It will hook you.

Great record!! Sloppy, loud, witty songs that will stay in your head long after you've heard them. I've read reviews that compare You Am I to the Who, The Clash and The Replacements. I would say that is true but they also have a unique sound that has you believing in this band. Davey Lane provides some slashing guitar licks while Tim Rodgers is the frontman who sings it like he means it. This one should be on the very top of any best of 2007 lists.

I have thousands of CDs. And most of them are often overlooked, if not forgotten, as documents I listen to over and over again.

I fear "Convicts" may be one of these.

You Am I are old friends, and they rank up there with GbV and Mclusky and Wilco (high praise indeed.)

I should be able to immediately point to my problems with the music on "Convicts" but I can't, and therein lies the problem: the songs here do not stick in my head. I found "Deliverance," their last album (is "album" the correct term? Or do I show my age?)to be too acoustic (with the notable exception of "Who Put the Devil in You"), very similar in feel to Tim Rogers's other band The Temperance Union. Not that anything is wrong with that, but I wanted some clear delineation in sound between the projects. And "Convicts" sounds nothing like "Deliverance." This is what I hoped for, as "Convicts" is largely amped up driving music.

Sadly, I can't recall any of the lyrics, unlike earlier You Am I. It sounds good, but this is praise for the engineering of the thing, not the quality of the song-writing.

I am, however, listening to it a lot. And therein lies hope: that the pleasure here is not instantaneous, but the product of work on the listeners part, work equalled by the band that created it.

I hope so. This CD was not inexpensive.

I came to YOU AM I a little late--2001--after cutting my teeth on Indie rock in the 80s (Big Black, Husker Du, Replacements, Miracle Legion, all that). For those unfamiliar with the band, yeah, the name is an albatross, but Tim Rogers (guitar, vocals, songwriter) is truly one of the very greatest talents in rock for many a year: his songs sing, scream occasionally, and are always felt. He's got a dead-on ear for melody and if he doesn't have a pretty voice, he's got one that fits his tunes to a "T." The closest I can come to a comparison is Paul Westerberg from the Replacements before he wiped out after "All Shook Down.": You Am I's songs are rocking at the least, and very often intensely moving. "Convicts" is a really good record--to take one example, the first 30 seconds of "Secrets" are as potent as rock music gets, and the rest is merely fantastic. This band really is one of the most unassuming, talented, HUMAN bands in the business--all rock, no wuss. And they'll break your heart if you let them.