Young the Giant is a band from Newport Beach CA formerly known as The Jakes.
They illustrate their moniker brilliantly since they are all very young – the members are between 19 and 21 – but apparently want to become some giants of music, since, at this very young age, they have already released an EP ‘Shake my hand’, opened for Ghostland Observatory, The Whigs, Kings of Leon, Steel Train, Minus the Bear and Everest. As a matter of fact I remember seeing a member of the band, Sameer Gadhia, going on stage at the end of the set Everest did at Amoeba music last June.
Sameer is on vocals in the 5-piece band, whereas Jacob Tilley is on guitar, Eric Cannata on guitar and vocals, Payam Doostzadeh on bass and Francois Comtois on drums and vocals. In their bio, they are saying that ‘Cough syrup’ (a song they were playing as The Jakes) was on rotation on KROQ in LA, but since I never listen to this radio, I could not tell. I must say that, despite the bad opinion I have of this radio station, they can occasionally play good songs.
Later this year, they will release their first album produced by Joe Chiccarelli (White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Shins, My Morning Jacket).
All this is really impressive for such young people, and giants they seem to be already!
‘My Body’, the song that you will be able to download for free from their website very soon (they said they had some technical difficulties today) is an energetic rock song with a chorus sung with powerful high-pitched vocals by Sameer Gadhia and pulsing drum beats responding to electric guitars showing some bluesy accents. It’s young and reinvigorating, and although I have not seen them live, I bet people are tapping their feet on the ground when they play it, yes, it is this kind of song. I also hear a little of distortion in the guitars in their video, and an almighty determination in the music that fits with the lyrics: ‘My body tells me no but I won’t quit cause because I want more’, yeah, they are very young, and have lust for life!
And if you want to check them out live, you have to live in California in the coming month, because they are playing many shows in LA, San Diego, Orange County and San Francisco.