One Cell / Go West Young Man

The problem with reviewing albums in January is that it doesn't mean much when you call it the Best Album of the Year.  But I will be surprised if I hear a better album in the next 11 months.  Humming a band's song after listening to it a few times would seem to be the normal reaction to any decently infectious refrain.  But what can we say about later listening to a whole other album from an entirely different band all day long and then finding yourself humming Go West Young Man on your way home?  Go West Young Man manages to extract sentiments of Billy Joel from the ether (without even a hint of 80s cheesiness) and modern alternative rock (without even a hint of trendiness) at the same time.  Frontman Damin Suarez allows for lively and sometimes seemingly improvisational singing without falling into the ever-so-popular vocalization style of hitting every note but the right one.  The album strategically lures you in with a short vocal collage and then dives straight in for the kill.  If the following enthusiasm-builder Chinatown somehow doesn't manage to lock you in, The Covinas will grab you and strap you down for good.  Listen carefully.

- Jon Hershfield, Isgoodmusic.com

Historians may be torn over who coined the phrase “Go west young man”, Horace Greeley or John Soule, or hell, if either of them did, but the attribution seems to matter naught to Go West Young Man frontman Damin Suarez, who’s too busy fashioning himself into a sharp California popsmith to worry about which 1850s newspaperman said what first. On his band’s eponymous debut, originally released in 2005, but gaining traction this year thanks to a reissue push from One Cell Records, Suarez (ex-the Fictions) treads the piano pop paths previously traversed by the Ben Foldses of the world, leavened with the sunny, brainy pop of the Broken West and The Format Whether it’s the highly polished, but not sterile, “The Covinas” or the classic jangle and snark of “Hard Times” ("All my friends owe me money,” Suarez sighs), GWYM is a band that knows exactly where it wants to go on this strong, confident debut. And to the band’s credit, the core fivesome (with help from plenty of musical friends) isn’t content to (metaphorically) sit in beach chairs and stare wistfully at the Pacific: witness the throbbing “The Sky is Falling” and the flirting-with-no-wave horns on the post-punky “Calypso”, surely the heaviest song to boast that upbeat title. Unless you’re already living in the Golden State, go west, young men and women, and seek out Go West Young Man.

- Stephen Haag, popmatters.com

John B.L. Soule once said, Go West Young Man when referring to opportunities on the frontier. Personifying that momentum, Damin Suarez (ex-The Fictions) has crafted homage to '60s/'70s pop blending jangly guitars, horns and harmonies with piano arrangements while also evoking contemporaries like Ben Folds and Kweller. The indie pop songs on the debut album Go West Young Man - whether guitar or piano driven - are always catchy and punctuated with Suarez's biting lyrics and upbeat rhythms.

 - Recorddept.com

Crisp compelling piano drives and underlies the tunes of this LA-area indie band, Go West Young Man. They're waily, croony, screamy, crunchy, bouncy, stylistically complete with groovy writhing wah guitar riffs. Their general sound is Elvis Costello doing the tango with Joe Strummer of The Clash...Big words, metaphors and simile tango with Elvis Costello in the timeless sphere of a spacious ballroom in Go West Young Man's throbbingly listenable "Penny Alarm" doodled over with lazy guitar, slicey bass and heavy tom. Suarez' no-holds-barred vocal alternatively gives way to an occasional coo, ultimately creating a fruity cocktail well enjoyed poolside at the W.

- Landry Shri, Luxury Wafers.net

Go West Young Man, "Go West Young Man"  (today, One Cell Records) - Melody merchant Damin Suarez (ex-the Fictions) has crafted an homage to classic pop that pushes the same buttons as the likes of Elvis Costello, Ben Folds and a host of '60s and '70s hitmakers who used horns and harmonies to sweeten their piano arrangements. Whether guitar- or keyboard-based, Suarez's tunes are as memorable as anything contemporaries such as the 88 or the Little Ones have made, and GWYM's frisky rhythms punctuate the bite in his lyrics. In an era so many artists feel compelled to deconstruct pop to make it interesting, Suarez has built himself a castle. Recommended.

- Kevin Bronson, Buzzbands.la

Go West Young Man is a young rock band that has a tight, yet rough around the edges sound that grabs your attention and gets you dancing. Frontman, Damin Suarez, takes his instrumental background and reforms it into a sweaty garage noise that is bordering on the indie pop sound of L.A.'s now-defunct The Fictions.

With Mathew Nakamura on drums and Joe Edwards on guitar, GWYM generate a sound in which there's always something to listen for, and something to move to.

- Beatcrave.com