Yves Klein Blue - Ragged and Ecstatic (Album)

I remember the first time I heard Yves Klein Blue – it was a Thursday night at Spectrum and all the tattooed, pierced, hardcore kids at Hot Damn had gone to the other room without bothering to check out the live band of the night. These four Brisbane boys, looking like your good boys next door after they’d had a few too many drinks, played to an audience of about ten people but they put on the most ferocious gig, playing enthusiastically with a fantastic break-down section at the end which turned what would be their future “hit single” Polka into a fifteen minute jam. I pretty much fell in love with the band right away and have since seen their audience sizes grow and their song repertoire expand, but with the same energy remaining with every gig.

Listening to their debut album Ragged and Ecstatic (which sounds like a pretty good description of the band itself) generates all sorts of good feelings. It is a feel-good record, but not in a cheesy sort of way. What I mean to say is that it is the sort of record you’d expect from a young indie band which is starting to grow up and venture out into the big bad world of record companies and fans and regular TV appearances (...not to mention car companies using their songs in commercials, but that’s another story altogether) without compromising what they were all about in their humble beginnings.

Ragged and Ecstatic is a wonderfully compiled mix of re-recorded songs off earlier EPs (yes kids, there were two versions of the EP and the first was better...just sayin’), previously unrecorded songs that sound familiar due to their regular rotation on gig set lists, and all fresh and shiny new songs that predict the direction this band is likely to take in the future (because it’s clear Yves Klein Blue are not going to be one of those bands that gets a bit of attention then fails to live up to expectations – they have talent and they definitely know how to utilise it).

It helps that the members of this band are all ridiculously lovable, not just looks-wise (shaggy and lanky and adorable) but each has a very approachable personality which translates well in interviews and definitely makes their gigs a good experience, no matter how tired or drunk they may be.

This sort of laid-back energy is evident on the record but it doesn’t make their work any less serious – these kids are out to make good songs and make their mark on the scene. The diversity of songs on the record shows that they have more to offer than the now-overplayed Polka.Their affiliation with Dew Process puts them into a certain sort of category (you know, they also have people like Ben Lee and Sarah Blasko on board as well as The Grates and all sorts of other bands which have started to represent Australian indie rock whether we like it or not) but hasn’t affected the uniqueness of what Yves Klein Blue do.

Plus, the record was produced by a man who has worked with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and Sinead O’Connor so quality songs are to be expected, and Ragged and Ecstatic certainly does meet all expectations.

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