The very first time I ever heard a song by Young the Giant was way back in 2004 when I was a lowly freshman in high school. At that time they were still known as The Jakes and I had discovered them on PureVolume.com (my addiction for new, unknown bands…yeah, I was THAT kid). Their song “Cough Syrup” caught my interest immediately and instantly became my favorite song ever recorded. So you could understand my surprise when I heard the ending lyrics to “Cough Syrup” playing on the radio just a few short months ago. Baffled by the instance, I was unable to Shazam it in time to see who had, in my mind, ripped off my favorite song in the world. I would catch a portion of the song a few more times before one day catching enough of the song to know that The Jakes had done a name change and re-released “Cough Syrup” for their new self-entitled album Young the Giant.

For the longest time, I had issues accepting the new version of my favorite song (“Cough Syrup”). And I can honestly still say I favor the original version of the song from when they were The Jakes. Perhaps, it the pretentious music snob in me enjoying them more when they were not so well known, or it could simply be due to the fact that it is the version I am used to. I must honestly say though, that the Young the Giant version of “Cough Syrup” has grown on me. I’ll let you all make your own decisions on the matter though.

“Cough Syrup” aside, the rest of the album is the ultimate summer road trip soundtrack. Calm and chill while having moments of chaos and excitement, perfect for a summer day of driving. The perfect mixture of amped up tunes blends in with the relaxing to keep the listener entranced and on their toes. Songs like “My Body” and the album closer “Guns Out” are true alternative rock jams that make you want to turn up the music and scream along. While songs like “12 Fingers” and “Islands” are much more relaxing but certainly just as fun to sing along to and certainly do not leave the listener wishing for substance. I have always been a fan of the lyrical quality of The Jakes and that completely bleeds into the music of Young the Giant.

Young the Giant has become quite the musical sensation as of late and after listening to their self-entitled album, on repeat for the last week or so, I can completely understand why. Sameer Gadhia, Jacob Tilly, Eric Cannata, Payam Doostzadeh, and Francois Comtois certainly have created a brilliant album that is fun and relaxing, while still exhilarating. Sameer’s vocals are unique to the ears while the surrounding musical complement blends in so perfectly they basically function as one working organ of musical delight.

Here are some YouTube links to compare the old and the new “Cough Syrup” to gather your own opinions on the matter:

The Jakes | Young the Giant

Both are delightful and they do sound fairly close, but there are obvious differences.

If the name doesn’t give the listener enough indication on the type of music they will be listening to, let me offer a few other words to help better describe the music of Morosity: deep, dark, sinister, and a bit depressing. Morosity’s album Misanthrope is unlike anything I have heard on any rock station before. The blending of acoustic instrumentals with the true rock vocals of Jesse Albrecht is truly unique to Morosity.

Depending upon who you are, it may be bothersome for some listeners to fully listen and experience Misanthrope due to most of the songs on the track list being over 4 minutes in length (the very last song on the album is a whopping 12 minutes and 52 seconds long). That being said, the songs on the album do not seem to drag on or even feel like they are lasting any longer than a 3 minute song which says a lot about the lyrical and musical talents of Morosity. However, there is always an exception to the rule. The song “Day of Reckoning” has a musical outro that just takes too long for my taste. That being said I am (generally) not too keen for musical interludes, intros and outros (like many others in the human population, I am extremely impatient). I must honestly say though that “Day of Reckoning” is one of my favorite tracks from the album, it is just that outro seemed like a bit of an overkill to me.

When I first began listening to Misanthrope by Morosity, I didn’t begin with the first track on the album (“Adam”) and I regretted that decision after listening through a few other songs with my playlist on random. When I came back to the album a few days later I started from track one and that made all the difference. Misanthrope has a flow to it, songs bleed into the other, and it feels like a concept album, a storytelling album that guides you through a journey. Listening to the songs out of order is possible and the songs can stand on their own for sure, but for the first listen to it is best to experience the songs in the order of the track list to gain a better understanding of album. I find it hard to pick out specific songs to talk about for this album because I feel like the whole album is one hour long song which is a throwback idea that I am completely okay with.

Morosity consists of vocalist Jesse Albrecht, guitarist/violinist Jason Wolfe, bassist Shawn Bachinski, drummer Nick Johnson, and guitarist David Rowan. The band reins from Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota and you can download their album Misanthrope from iTunes or buy the album off Amazon.