Ryan Billing from Ryan’s Record Reviews shares his thoughts on britpop punk baby, YNES’ newest album
By Ryan Billing
On the 27th of October, 2022, I started Ryan’s Record Review (R.R.R) to relax after I came home from work and finally decided to listen to my IKEA Kallax full of vinyl. When starting this TikTok and Instagram video series I never expected to be asked to seriously write reviews, so to be able to write this review is an honour and I would like to thank the team at The Curve Magazine for letting me do so.
Now on to the nitty gritty of it all. I first saw the Coventry born and based musician when she performed alongside Billy Bragg at Glastonbury Festival 2022 for his “Radical Round-Up” at the Leftfield which can be a bit hit or miss in my opinion. I originally went for Abbie Ozard, who was also performing at the “Round-Up”, and luckily found YNES along the way.
As someone who is cynical and hates a lot of things, to my astonishment from the moment I first heard the song “Fake What Your Mama Gave Ya” YNES’ music spoke to me. This song criticises the classic indie boy stereotype for appropriating working-class culture and being “not built for a nine to five, good job [they] don’t need one”.
Notably, the third track “The Daily Male” has the same tongue and cheek double entendre lyrical feel as Kate Nash did in the early 2000s, and seeing as YNES describes herself as a “Britpop-Punk baby”, it makes sense. The rest of the EP itself is filled with what I have previously described in video versions of R.R.R as “bangers”.
When I asked YNES if she had any comments on the EP, which in hindsight was terrible journalism as every musician obviously has opinions about their music, she said “ it’s a collection of songs about things that keep me up at night.” Given the current state of the music industry, with nepotism still creeping its way into the indie world (see Inhaler) and the UK currently in an economic crisis making it harder to make art without massive funding, it’s safe to assume the thoughts on this EP will still bug YNES for a while.
I know that’s bit of a sombre note to end on there, but at the end of the day music isn’t always all “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M but if you like witty lyrics, punky sounding guitar parts, I highly suggest listening to the Born Loser EP. Overall I give this EP a solid 8/10 and can assure you it will be on heavy rotation till YNES’ next release.
Born Loser by YNES is available now on all streaming platforms
You can follow YNES’ journey here:
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