Yves KLEIN BLUE – Ragged & Ecstatic

Dew Process: 2009]
Young and exciting Australian indie four-piece Yves Klein Blue are set to release their much-anticipated full length debut on June 26. The album title ‘Ragged and Ecstatic’ came from the words of Jack Kerouac describing the meaning of life as “the ragged and ecstatic joy of pure being” – a befitting choice of words for a record that overflows with addictive pop hooks, youthful vigour and impressive musicality. After a tiring year of continuous touring and recording, the boys are home for a national tour ending with a spot at Byron Bay’s Splendour in the Grass festival. We caught up with super enthusiastic and charming bass player, Sean Cook, to discuss the band’s amazing year as well as talk about red hair, champagne and who he’s listening to...
The band recorded ‘Ragged & Ecstatic’ in Fairfax Studios in LA with Kevin Augunas (Cold War Kids) – a far cry from the small local studio in Brisbane where they self-recorded their EP. Sean told us the experience was humbling for the band. “It was a shock for us – having Kevin there constantly wanting something better, re-working the melodic parts, always interested in a better way or a different way of approaching a song… Initially we were really taken aback having someone challenging us constantly”. So did anyone get their feelings hurt? “Ha ha! Yeah absolutely – we all had our moments. The process was a kind of non-stop whirlwind, really a creatively bizarre time. We were spending 24-7 with each other and thinking, breathing, dreaming about this record”. But obviously great things came out of it? “It was an education, because we were challenged and our ideas of how to make a song were challenged… but I think as a result of that we made the best record we possibly could.”
‘Ragged & Ecstatic’ is a really impressive album – especially considering it is the debut of a group of guys that are so freaking young. The album - and the Yves Klein Blue sound in general - is difficult to categorise as it doesn’t stick to one obvious genre. In fact, the album veers from the piano-driven pop swagger of single ‘Getting Wise’ to the acoustic call-to-arms of ‘About the Future’ and the The Hold Steady-esque rock storytelling of ‘Dinosaur’. The diversity of sound is linked to the huge catalogue of bands and songs that the band listens to. “We have a pretty scattered list of influences, but I guess at the heart of it we are into good songs – not necessarily die-hard supporters of particular bands.” At the moment he said he’s been listening to Nick Cave’s “Boatman’s Call”, Led Zeppelin II, Elvis Costello’s “Armed Forces”, among endless others.
It was straight-up rock ‘n’ roll talent that led to Yves Klein Blue signing with Australian label Dew Process in 2008. Sean said to celebrate they went out for steak and champagne, “it was extremely civilised, actually.” Champagne is pretty rock and roll though? “Yeah! And we didn’t use glasses either. Put that in!”
Now a year later, the band will play before the green fields at Splendour in the Grass, for the second time after gracing the stage in 2008. “It was probably my favourite gig we’ve ever played – to put it simply. As kids we used to go there and it’s a great festival to be at – it has a pretty unique feel. So being up on the stage and looking down into the crowd… that is completely surreal! We just love playing music together, and now we are getting to travel around and play our music to people…. It’s like a culmination of all this rehearsing and recording and playing our instruments and actually being rewarded for it. I have to pinch myself!”
We asked Sean what his favourite album of the week is and he said a new album that he’s been listening to called ‘North Hills’ by a band called The Dawds - sunny Laurel Canyon-style California pop. We would like to say thanks to Sean for the tip - and for being such a delightful, down-to-earth guy.
Yves Klein Blue have gained a reputation as an exciting live band, and they certainly have genuine charisma and a stage presence that belies their youth, so keep an eye on their tour dates to check them out for yourself. “Ragged & Ecstatic” will be released to the masses on 26 June. For more information on the band visit their website

taken from: http://www.albumoftheweek.com.au/2009/06/yves-klein-blue-ragged-and-ecstatic.html

smh.com.au review

Craig Mathieson
July 3, 2009

On Ragged & Ecstatic, the debut album from highly touted Brisbane four-piece Yves Klein Blue, the words pour out of vocalist Michael Tomlinson. From track to track he's the wisecracking observer, the excitable philosopher and a wry storyteller. Where some acts struggle to compile a disc full of original lyrics, Tomlinson has to work at containing his writing.

"It comes from me being a neurotic, verbose person. In real life I can't shut up or be concise," the 22-year-old admits readily. "I guess I have a lot to say. It's not for me to say whether it's true, or whether it's correct, or whether it's relevant but I am conscious of not appearing preachy or a know-it-all.

"I would write songs even if we didn't have the band. It's something I need to do. If I don't have the chance to play an instrument and use what I've seen in the last few days in some way, I feel terrible.

I feel wasted."

Ragged & Ecstatic is the culmination of a busy few years for Yves Klein Blue. The rockers have progressed from provincial hopefuls to laying the foundations of a national profile with few hiccups and much touring. The alternative band — Tomlinson, guitarist Charles Sale, bassist Sean Cook and drummer Chris Banham — have eschewed prevailing trends in favour of an idiosyncratic mood that moves easily between genres.

"We want to make the most of our opportunities. They're not easy to come by," says Tomlinson, who started the band with his school friend Sale and soon found a tune, Polka, from their debut 2008 EP, Draw Attention To Themselves, accompanying a car-maker's national television campaign.

For their album, the band travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer Kevin Augunas, attracted by his recordings with Cold War Kids. By day they would work in his studio, where Augunas would challenge them to improve their songs. At night they would squeeze into a tiny North Hollywood flat where you could barely turn on a light without waking a slumbering bandmate.

That resulting album adds muscular glam licks (Dinosaur) and solemn atmospherics (Celebrity Death) to the group's already frenetic sound. Ragged & Ecstatic sounds like a record: individual and multi-layered.

"We wanted it to be a 45-minute experience where you could sit down and listen to it from start to finish," Tomlinson says. "There's light and shade. There's not just slamming, compressed drums in your face the whole time. We wanted to show the length and breadth of the music we loved. We wanted to make something people could put on while they're driving and listen to the whole thing."



YVES KLEIN BLUE
Saturday, 3.30pm, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst, 9332 3711, $13.50.

taken from: http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/music/gig-reviews/yves-klein-blue/2009/07/02/1246127624189.html