The Yum Yum Tree

The Yum Yum Tree

While “turn down” isn’t exactly the sentiment you’d expect a rock band to center an album around, Atlanta, GA’s The Yum Yum Tree encourages just that on their captivating new full- length Turn Down the Noise. The band’s first release since Paint By Numbers, hailed by critics as “one of the best Atlanta albums of 2007” (EvilSponge), the new 10-song collection explores a spectrum of relationships, from family and friends who “call late at night [and] ask for my advice,” to “complicated boys,” to those ill-fated romances that you wish to remember just so you “won’t ever want it back.” These situations set to song urge the listener to navigate through the “noise” of our often messy, confusing, chaotic world, to ultimately arrive at something real and honest. It’s a mindset that TYYT bassist, singer, and primary songwriter Andy Gish admits didn’t come easily. “We create so much doubt in ourselves ... by the time I got to the point where I thought, Yes, this is worth recording, a lot of work had gone into the songs,” she reflects, acknowledging that time might have been just what the songs needed for them to so seamlessly coalesce. “I’m a very diSerent person,” Gish explains, “I probably wouldn’t have written those songs in 2010; I wouldn’t have had the same perspective.” This perspective, she adds, has helped her come to accept a degree of responsibility she may have evaded in the past. “It’s a lot harder to be vulnerable and introspective and put yourself in a place where you accept your own responsibility and still want something good for the other person,” she attests. Perhaps a by-product of her 20+ years spent as an ER nurse, combined with her work in harm reduction, Gish is likely more comfortable than most when it comes to addressing challenging topics head-on. “That is where I live,” she laughs. This confidence is evident in the album’s self-assured, deliberate production as well as such provoking lyrics as “I’ll never know unless I try” in the title track and “What could you accomplish if you weren’t afraid to fail” in album standout “Follow You Anywhere.” Recorded primarily at Dan Dixon’s RCRD studios in Peoplestown-Atlanta, GA, with the exception of a few songs (the catchy singalong “My Corner” and head-bobbing, nostalgic “Porchlight” with Atlantan Greg Wright, and the aforementioned “Follow You Anywhere” at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Box, England), the culmination is a beautiful noise reminiscent, at times, of the best alt-angst of the 90s (think PJ Harvey, The Breeders, or perhaps a female-fronted Superchunk) and at others a moodier Best Coast or La Sera. While TYYT’s most obvious musical comfort zone seems to be catchy, guitar-driven bops, the band isn’t afraid to turn it down a bit—the moody and mellifluous “Lion’s Heart” sounds like what might happen if Hope Sandoval guested on a Death Cab for Cutie tune; similarly, the cinematic “Weak at the Knees” (which Gish refers to as “one of the first songs I wrote that was really vulnerable”) sounds tailor-made for an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, building to a beautiful conclusion that underscores her formidable vocal talents. Referring to the inspiration for the song, a particularly challenging time in her career during which she was dealt several personal losses nearly simultaneously, Gish explains that she found herself uncharacteristically wearied to the point of questioning her capacity for helping others. “I didn’t have anything left,” Gish laments, evidenced by the song’s siren statement: “If you lean on me, we’re gonna fall tonight.” Gish points to Brené Brown as an inspiration for her vulnerable approach to lyrics, noting that she believes it’s in that uncomfortable space that real conversations—and change— happen. She references also the work of John K. Samson (The Weakerthans) as the metric by which she judges her songwriting, citing specifically his talent for enlivening the mundane and reflecting universality through specificity. Influences notwithstanding, Turn Down the Noise is a crystal-clear capture of a band with a distinct, commanding presence and an inspired history, one that reflects the sort of depth and breadth that can only be realized from investing decades in the Atlanta music scene, both as performers and concertgoers. Gish and her bandmates (her husband Matt Harr plays drums; long-time friend John McNicholas, a talented songwriter and YouTube content creator/guitar instructor, rounds out the trio) can often be seen supporting their friends’ bands at various Atlanta-area venues, so it’s more than fitting that the album’s liner notes conclude with a mission statement of sorts, encouraging listeners to “make art, be kind, & support independent artists.” Turn Down the Noise connects as it challenges, uncovering more nuance with each listen. It has a way of exuding a comfort with the uncomfortable, remaining introspective without resorting to navel-gazing or overly specific anecdotes. Most remarkably, it reminds us that it’s not only ok—it’s essential—to “remember the bad,” thoughtfully examine the parts of our past we aren’t necessarily proud of, and confidently confront the things we’ve grown accustomed to not talking about.

Rosser

Atlanta's finest Alt-Wave band since 2016, ROSSER provides a tight mesh of 80s, 90s, and current styles blended into something new in all the right ways. Some say Alt-Rock, some say Power Pop. Many jump directly to a reference to The Cars, then have to think a little harder when they get deeper into the set. All together, a ROSSER show feels exactly like it should... A comprehensive journey, each song standing on its own, but together forming an experience greater than the sum of its parts. The kind of song list you'd want to stream while on a drive, with your arm out the window, either heading for a night out or heading home from one.

PLS PLS (acoustic)