THE DEPARTURE of a band’s co-founder/lead singer could be a devastating blow, but London Indie-rockers Yuck survived, regrouped, and delivered a second album.
Formed in London by Max Bloom (guitar/vocals ) and Daniel Blumberg (guitar/vocals ), along with Jonny Rogoff (drums ) and Mariko Doi (bass ), the band released their eponymous debut album in 2011, which Pitchfork described as “inexhaustibly replayable”.
Yuck wore their nineties influences on their sleeve - Yo La Tengo, Superchunk, Built to Spill and Dinosaur Jr - but the album enjoyed positive reviews and Yuck seemed on their way. Then came Blumberg’s departure.
Yuck were down but not out. Bloom was promoted to frontman, a new guitarist in Ed Hayes was recruited and the band set to work on what would become Glow & Behold, which came out last September. The Independent said it “follows on nicely from the fuzzy guitar and lo-fi sound of their debut”.
“I’d already written a lot of material and I really believed in the music,” Bloom told The Independent. “I didn’t want the band just to end and to throw it all away. I thought that would be a real shame.”
In another interview he added: “I felt the songs were really good. I really wanted people to hear them. I felt so strongly about them, there was no way the band was going to collapse.”
So what does not kill you makes you stronger. Yuck have a point to prove as they will show when their tour reaches Strange Brew at the Róisín Dubh on Thursday May 1 at 8pm. Support is from Windings and Land Lovers.
Tickets are available at www.roisindubh.net, the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street, and The Róisín Dubh.
