Youth Group

The fourth album is always a difficult one and that's definitely true for Australia's Youth Group. They have kind of painted themselves into a musical corner but they have at least attempted to shake things up by making it up as they went along when they recorded The Night Is Ours. Songs were allowed to evolve in the studio, often from the barest of ideas, and that added a level of drama to the record that was lacking from 2006's Casino Twilight Dogs. But it doesn't make for a dramatic change in their overall sound, which is still midway between James and Death Cab For Cutie. And like Death Cab For Cutie, it's almost impossible to really dislike Youth Group's music because it's really inoffensive and doesn't stray too often into the blandness that probably helped get their music chosen for The O.C. in the first place. The Night Is Ours is definitely the band's strongest piece of work, but they still haven't managed to put together all the pieces of the puzzle.