The Yours' debut album reflects their love for 1990s indie rock
Hong Kong band The Yours' debut album takes them and their listeners back to the sound and ethos of the 1990s, writesHannah Hodson
Take the sound of 1960s art rockers The Velvet Underground, combine it with US alternative idols Smashing Pumpkins, mix in some of the sounds of Scottish noisemakers The Jesus and Mary Chain, and you'll get what many believe to be Hong Kong's best indie band: The Yours.
Since being formed in 2005 by childhood friends Patking Leung and Nic Wong, the band have received praise from music critics and audiences alike for their well-crafted noise pop and blistering live sets; and now, six years after releasing their first EP, The Yours have finally released their debut album, The Way We Were.
The album pays homage to the '90s alternative and indie rock the band love - an era they wish they had been old enough to experience at the time. Featuring the interplay of four guitarists, The Way We Were is built up of melodic, multilayered noise, and its creators hope the music will leave the listener with a lingering, bittersweet emotion.
Guitarist Tim Ng says the tracks combine "a little bit of everything, from shoe-gaze, garage, psychedelic to post punk". The band stress, however, that they are "not into the genre thing". Preferring to avoid labels and remaining focused on creating their own melodies and layered guitar noise, they describe themselves, simply, as "noise pop".
The Yours enjoyed a surge in recognition on the release of debut EP Abraham in 2006, but some rocky years were to follow. Multiple line-up changes led to three full albums of material being dumped due to what Leung and Wong describe as major inconsistencies. In fact, the only constant during these years is the band's name. Although a "random result of brainstorming", the meaning of that name, Ng says, is simple: "Our music is yours."
This lack of direction finally came to an end with the arrival of several new members. Leung and Wong met fellow guitarist and vocalist Gwyneth Tang at a gig a few years ago. The next to join was Nelson Ko, a former schoolmate of Wong's, who became the band's drummer. Ng, a former colleague of Leung's, completed the ensemble last year as the band's fourth guitarist.
Ng says the current line-up came together very well in a short period, and the rejuvenated band were quickly signed up by local indie tastemaker Alok Leung on his Lona Records label last year.