Five years on from the delectable Diorama and we find messrs. Johns, Joannu & Gillies taking a few steps back from its epic sound and a few steps closer to synth nirvana, while planting their collective feet squarely in the mainstream in the process.

But considering the quality of lead single Straight Lines, it is fair to say that the rest of this album is a big disappointment, particularly after such a long wait. But rather than write it off, let’s look at why that is the case.
 
The opening (semi) title track, Young Modern Station is a rocking way to get started, with a circular riff that eventually breaks into a massive chorus, designed for the anthemic sing-along Silverchair do so well.

Then comes the song everyone within a twenty mile radius of any radio has heard, Straight Lines. With its drawn out build up, pounding rhythms and Johns’ staple eccentric/enigmatic lyrics ("washed the sickened socket and rove/resent nothing/there's good will inside of me”), Straight Lines is perhaps the sole reason Young Modern exists.

 It is easily the best cut on the album, rivaled only by the successive track If You Keep Losing Sleep. A strange glam like stomp of keyboards, marching Snare drums and Johns’ charismatic croon. The song reaches its crescendo after about a minute, when the lead man stretches out "Such reduction" to a satisfactory drawl and creates an entertaining musical tangent.

It is worth mentioning at this point the co-operation of Julian Hamilton (of Presets & Dissociatives fame) and Paul Mac, playing all manner of keys and synths. It wouldn't be going too far to say that these are almost as equal band members as Daniel Gillies (drums) and Chris Joannu (Bass). Their input is hefty, but strides even further away from what some consider the 'classic Silverchair' rock sound. The grungier, distorted guitar riffage of their debut, which even managed to steal two tracks on 2002's Diorama, is now all but gone, replaced by a thick swathe of beautiful harmonies, slide guitar and kooky keyboards.

No great loss one would think, except this kind of texture pervades every track and the album quickly becomes tiring. A real blast of something louder and heavier would have helped somewhere between Low and Insomnia, but the lame blues of Mind Reader is as close as we get.

It’s not all bad though. The trifekta of Those Thieving Birds (Part 1), Strange Behaviour and Those Thieving Birds (Part 2) is beautiful. It rolls through lush orchestration, pure pop music and back again. Waiting All Day is also a falsetto driven sunshine slice of a ballad, reminiscent of The Sleepy Jackson. However, once again, the main fault of the album is it just doesn't provide enough opportunity to veer away from the overwhelming sunny pop ‘everything-sounds-like-a-radio-single’ mould. The final track All Across The World is the worst culprit, re-visiting the widescreen choir found previously on the Dissociative's Old Man, Young Man.

But perhaps this criticism is filtered through the mind of an older fan, as it is quite clear Silverchair are aiming for the mainstream jugular and biting hard. By that token they are successful, despite losing some of their edge along the way and Young Modern is still an above average album.

So enjoy it, because knowing Silverchair it'll be a while before we see another offering and knowing Daniel John's eclectic and ever-changing tastes, it is likely the band will make some interesting twists and turns between now and then anyway.

After all, Silverchair has never been one to walk in straight lines.

3/5