You Am I - Dilettantes (Album)

You Am I. To be honest, I’m not really too sure what I can say about this band that hasn’t already been said. Over the past fifteen years they’ve been called just about every adjective (vitriolic and superfluous alike) under the sun. Rogers and co have firmly entrenched themselves as one of the most respected rock acts in the country, but with their best work (Hourly Daily, #4 record) a decade behind them, where exactly do they fit in nowadays
With the release of Dilettantes we get a look at where this staple band are headed next.

Straight off the bat this album is a clearly better effort than their last offering, 2006’s Convicts. Album opener Dilettantes is a deep and charming acoustic track that showcases Rogers’ deft touch with acoustic numbers. The string arrangement and gentle guitars work together nicely and the track sets the album off on just the right note. On Disappearing the driving bass line signals a shift in direction for the band- it’s quite different to much of their song writing in the last few years. It’s good to see the guys trying something different, on the same token it’s good to hear them sounding like the You Am I of old on tracks like Wankers and Big Wheel.

As always Lane and Rogers trade licks and work off each other in fine fashion. The area that this band has struggled in over the last few years has never been their playing. All four are excellent players. It’s their song writing that has let them down. On every album they’ve released over the past ten years there have been a couple of standout tracks, a couple of good, solid songs and a couple of numbers that you could swear you’ve heard somewhere before. You can’t take marks off for effort. This is a band that tours constantly and is committed to their craft. Rogers’ lyrics are intelligent and playful, he is a crafty and skilled wordsmith and it has always been one of his strong suits. Davey Lane is an old school rock and roll axe man. His presence has grown on stage and on recording, surely a result of the success of The Pictures. Kent and Hopkinson are as solid a backbone as you’ll find anywhere in Australia and the whole band seem a lot more comfortable with each other on this recording.

Even after a few listens I’m still not sure what to say about this record. It’s their most confident offering in years, but still not in the league of Hourly Daily. It’s solid and it’s got character but it doesn’t really have too many shining moments. You Am I don’t cast quite as long a shadow as they once did. Let’s not forget that this a band that has had three records debut at number one (in a row), and you don’t do that kind of thing by accident. Unfortunately, this album doesn’t quite reach those lofty standards but when Mr Rogers says “ya aint seen the best of us yet” well, I believe him.

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