Recently, there's been a lot of talk going around about there being an ongoing 'emo revival', a movement which the producer of this record, Evan Weiss (from Into It. Over It.), and its creators - last seen putting down their roots on the promising Grow Up, Dude in 2012 - are widely considered to be a part of. A great number of bands of this ilk are making an effort to not tie themselves down to any particular scene; there have been enough past examples of bands changing tack as soon as they find themselves pigeonholed, too. Maybe this is all just a phase, and the Floridians will find themselves in a totally different place whenever they put out their third album, but however you may look at it, there's no denying that Keep Doing What You're Doing is a huge step up from what's come before.
As much as YBI! have made an effort to show that they have clearly moved on from past efforts - as great as their older material is, their debut was mired in production problems, and drafting in Weiss to give the new set a bit of spit and polish (relatively speaking) was a shrewd move) - some things remain unchanged, sometimes defiantly so. Frontman Tanner Jones still pours his heart out with every line, his voice usually halfway between a whisper and a scream, and sounding as scrappy as the music around him, even though he's perhaps more introspective than before ("I'm having trouble trying to find the right way to say I feel less than confident"). Opener 'Match & Tinder' lights things up from its opening riff, before settling effortlessly into a mid-tempo groove, its contrasting dynamics highlighting the fact that the band have matured musically as well, perhaps taking the advice of their debut's title.
Matt Nissley's pounding drums imbue flagship single 'Award of the Year Award' with plenty of forward momentum, while the complex arrangement of 'Strong Island' gives each band member enough space to do what they do best. There's an increased sense of cohesion audible in every note, and it's probably not just the quartet rallying around each other after the departure of long-time drummer Tim Flynn last year. That setback doesn't seem to have rattled the band in the slightest; the likes of the full-on 'House Address' and the radio-ready power-pop of 'Rock Springs' suggest that the band definitely have their shit together. By the way, good luck dislodging the latter's hook from your brain once you've heard it - it's the sort of precision-strike melody I always knew the band had in them. Likewise, the driving, syncopated 'Gray Matter' storms through its 3 minutes, juggling time signatures and delivering a killer chorus to boot. "I'm starting to realise that I'm wasting my time" Jones admits, as the band set the album up to finish as strongly as it started.
It does so in genuinely stunning fashion, with the opening instrumental of 'Better to Best' leading into a cathartic explosion of gang vocals and rollicking rhythms, the album ending on an exuberantly positive note, as well as boding well for the future. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try to be happy / Maybe things aren't quite as bad I let myself believe" - Jones, and the rest of the band, have quite a lot to be happy about; with Keep Doing What You're Doing, they've well and truly put themselves on the map. Are they among the poster boys for a new movement? Honestly, with an album as good as this, who fucking cares?
