By Kevin Toomey
9/30/2011
Self-released
Rating: 5/5
Local power-poppers The Van Buren Boys are back with a second full-length album, Up All Night. The band sounds tighter than ever on this album and it’s apparent from the first notes that the whole group improved since its debut. The first thing I noticed about this album was how good the vocals sound. Lead singer Tyler Hansen has been working on his singing and it shows. The backups and harmonies sound great too, which really helps the songs on Up All Night rise above the one-dimensional sound Six String Love had. Listen to “Don’t Wanna Stop” or “Run Around” to see what I mean.
The new album doesn't sound as jam packed with riffs and fancy guitar work, which is a good thing. The Van Buren Boys are good with their instruments but they let the songs on Up All Night speak for themselves rather than hit you over the head with a 'look-what-I-can-do' mentality that crams as much as possible into a song. That’s not to say that the songs are lighter; just a bit more subtle and more natural sounding. The creamy guitar leads combined with the vocal harmonies are catchy as hell and I can’t recommend this record enough. Up All Night is a great sophomore effort and shows a lot of promise for The Van Buren Boys. Stream/download Up All Night at the band’s Bandcamp page and be sure to check out our review of Six String Love here.
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