After 2007’s awkward ‘Some Loud Thunder’, the Brooklyn indie rock wannabes decided on self-imposed hibernation and a bout of prolonged navel-gazing. The process of reassessment was inspirational – ‘Hysterical’ is their finest record to date. Produced by Texan hard-nut John Congleton, studio album number three is huge in scope and song-craft, delivered by a band displaying a maturity to add to the promise of their 2005 debut. Be it the punch of ‘Maniac’, the electric surge of ‘Into Your Alien Arms’ or the straining romanticism of ‘Yesterday, Never’, CYHSY have created an album that is both jubilant and disarmingly vulnerable. Their future starts now.
8/10
Words by JOHN FREEMAN
