The Cincinnati-based electronic duo You, You’re Awesome rings in the new year with the techno-confection You’re Getting Old, the third and final installment of an EP trilogy. The first two EPs were called You’re My Superhero and You’re a Fun Drunk. With so much second person, direct-address being thrown around, you’d think You, You’re Awesome would have a more confrontational, heavy sound… but you’d be wrong. YYA is like the rascally but good-natured younger brother you (maybe) never had: all he wants are cigarettes, nudie mags, and to have a good time.
Mixing video game bleeps with dime store Casio synth lines, YYA keeps it light. The pop refrains of "Insignificance Is Beautiful" and "Yippee Ki Yay, Mister Falcon" could have been lifted directly from the audio score of your favorite vintage Nintendo game. The melodies are dressed up in more intricate vestments, but really, if you heard any of these synth lines while Mega Man blasted Dr. Wily to hell (the cogwheel weapon was the best – it could fire in 8 directions!) you wouldn’t blink an eye.
A familiar plaint levied against electronic music is ear fatigue: too much synthetically fabricated sound can turn your brain into mush. Acts like Daft Punk and Orbital avoid this by wringing more textures out of the electronic spectrum than you ever thought possible. YYA doesn’t quite have that range, but they do a good job staving off ear fatigue by introducing live elements into the soundscape. Bells, live drums, and vocal samples all give the ear something to hold onto besides the slick Pro Tools dreck. There’s even a standout live guest vocal from fellow Cincinnatian Margaret Darling of The Seedy Seeds (QRO album review) on "Guess What? Shun!"
Completing a trilogy is no small feat and YYA can be proud of the final piece to their project. The EP is a fun quick-witted romp. You may not always buy into some of the hamminess, like the silly sample led track "How To Get the Most Out of Your Instructional Videos", but the EP, just like your favorite Nintendo game, rewards persistence. If you make it through to the end of You, You’re Getting Old, you’ll feel pretty good about the experience. You, You’re Awesome – you’re awesome.
MP3 Stream: "Yippee Ki Yay, Mister Falcon"
