Hitting us with a forcefulness that becomes the greatest element of consistency in the tracklist before we know it, Rob Alexander wields a lot of raw power in the opening cut of his new album, Young Man’s Eyes, titled simply “The Soul or the Skin.”
The track’s compositional premise will be revisited in the namesake song “Young Man’s Eyes” later on in the tracklist, but here, we’re made to swing with its rhythmic push like our lives depend on it – whether prepared for the dynamic grooves set before us or not. We’re shoved right into the swaggering pulsation of “Freak Show” seamlessly, and from there into the explicitly emotive “Sometimes We Fall Apart,” and even after less than a few minutes of playing time, it feels like we’ve already heard more musical might than most bands could summon in an entire LP.
“Your Shelter” throws away the big amps and replaces them with soft vocal harmonies and a softer sensibility straight from the book of Billy Joel, but its gentle way doesn’t sound all too predictable for us to get trapped in its lush attributes. “Pillars of Hercules (Davey, Nigel, & Dee)” is a bit more angst-ridden, but its respect for an old-fashioned rock n’ roll sway had me at the altar of its gods long before hearing the first chorus. “Get Over Yourself (feat. Gigi Worth)” and “Like an Angel” trace his patchwork to the same spot we started with in “Your Shelter,” and while it’s clear a lot of this material was tailored to the wants of legit pop aficionados, there’s nothing here to repel the occasional fan, either.
My favorite tune from the second act in Young Man’s Eyes is the saturated “We Can Be Winners,” which swings at us like a staggering drunk but surprisingly offers up one of the more acerbic collective performances of any this player and his band will give in the album. “The Kids Don’t Play Anymore” is brighter but hardly lighter, unsheathing a rapier-sharp lyrical edge that is difficult to shake from your conscience once you’ve been exposed to it for the first time. Honestly, “Fly on the Wall” is probably the only song here that seems a bit simplistic given the source, but in a fashion that makes me curious about the improvisational depth Alexander and his crew are developing at this stage of his career.
“Black Widow Rising” and “Merry Christmas in Heaven” could both work as leadoff singles for Young Man’s Eyes, but I can understand why our main man inevitably selected the latter for the job. In a harshly emotional discordant twist of what a Christmas-style pop song could and should sound like, Alexander summarizes precisely why listeners and critics around the globe need to be taking his music and his mission seriously in 2023. This is true rock rebellion and outside pop as he was always meant to be heard, only packaged together as a means of saving your pocketbook a couple of hard-earned dollars. In its totality, Young Man’s Eyes is a can’t-miss LP for the pop faithful.
Chadwick Easton