THE young republic - 12 tales from winter city

The Young Republic’s finely crafted tales of love, lust and longing take in everything from the multi-instrumental grandeur of Arcade Fire to the wry humour of Jonathan Richman, and a whole lot in-between. The band are accomplished musicians, and this works to their benefit - the strings are arranged to bring the most out of frontman Julian Saporiti’s winsome voice and never seem an afterthought, as so often is the case. Former Artrocker.com Single of the Week ‘Modern Plays’ harks back to an era when indie meant songs about girls in art class and jangly guitars - not beer boy posturing - whilst the bluegrass-tinged album closer ‘Goodbye Town’ sees violinist Kristin take vocal duties, bringing to mind the likes of alt country masters Jolie Holland or Gillian Welch. Despite covering a lot of different bases, The Young Republic have managed to create an inclusive sound that is defiantly their own. Stand out tracks ‘Paper Ships’ and ‘Blue Skies’ are destined to feature on lovers’ mixtapes for years to come. Released on the new record label from the lovely people who brought you the End Of The Road festival, ‘12 Tales From Winter City’ is as polished an artifact as you would expect from a band in which every member is classically trained, but equally, it’s the sheer quality of the songwriting and the gusto of the playing that mark this band out as ones for the future. On this evidence that future can’t come soon enough.