by Mick Reed (@thasoundblog)
There was a time when I listened to a lot of bands that sounded like Yawners. Back in 2015, I was still catching up on the emo revival from 2012-ish and when I wasn't listening to Pet Cemetery, I was hot on the trail of the tender punk wave and scouring Bandcamp for lo-fi pop-punk that gave off a home-recording kinda vibe. The optimism and righteousness of the artists I discovered during this period, such as Diet Cig, Swearin', and (Remember) Sports, made it feel like we were on the cusp of some great turning point in our society. It turns out that feeling was correct, but not in the sense that many of us were hoping for. I think 2015 was the last year many of us got a full night’s sleep.
Spain's Yawners honestly feels like they've emerged from a time capsule buried deep in the earth some time in the previous decade. The prickly, precious little confections they bake up on their latest album, Just Calm Down, are so delicate and delightful that they will feel like they could melt in your mouth, and they will certainly hit all of the pleasure centers in your brain at once. Seeing themselves as a straightforward power-pop duo - Elena Nieto and Martin Muñoz - Yawners just so happens to capture that sense of exuberant, prickly charisma that seemed to make groups like Worriers required listening less than five years ago. Honestly, I can't think of a better comparison for the superb opening track "The Friend Song" than a long-fated collaboration between Bristol's excellent fry-chord punks, Caves and the earnest, ear-worm farm that is Worriers, a fuzzy toss-and-tumble, rock ‘n rollicker complete with big, blasting guitars and emphatic, swooning "woahs." It will get its hands around your ears and lock you into place as Nieto and Muñoz take you on a roller-coaster-like tour of some of their favorite sounds of the last twenty years of pop-punk paleology.
"Seaweed" is a twisty little number with lightly, burnished vocals that again recall Caves rough-and-ready style, with a dash of '90s skate punk boldness a la either Blink 182 or Mr. T Experience, whichever you have the warmest regard for. "Right or Wrong" picks up the thread of classic Epitaph influences with an unapologetic roll of buzzy, heart-ache inspired chords and cooing choruses. You really can't play this style of punk without a little emo seeping into the cracks, and to that end, the wide-eyed, lovesick, Get Up Kids-esque swing of "Archo Iris" will bleed through your headphones and remind you of all the people you never dared to flirt with in high school. Yawners are best when they are at their most highly melodic, like on the twinkle-chord, starry-eyed croon of "Please, Please, Please," and heart-felt, electric jangle-chord, jitter-up "La Escalera." I don't know why Yawners would tell us to calm down when they've given us so damn much to be excited about here!