You Am I: Deliverance : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Lack of commercial success in the United States hasn't hurt pop-rockers You Am I in their decade of record making. Three of their five studio albums debuted at number one in their native Australia, where they've filled stadiums and inspired young guns from Silverchair to the Vines. Their sixth release, Deliverance lives up to its name, echoing legendary pop progenitors such as Big Star, the Jam and the Kinks. Frontman Tim Rogers' clever lyrics and hip shaking hooks inspire head bopping ("Ribbons and Bows") and white-boy strutting ("Nifty Little Number"). But he's just as likely to rattle off an acoustic waltz-time ballad ("'Til the Clouds Roll Away") that reveals his penchant for folk and country, a tangent Rogers has explored further on solo albums. Even when it gets quiet, though, Deliverance never slows down; Rogers keeps it moving with road trip-beckoning chord progressions and grand melodies that could make harmony singers out of the tone deaf.

MEREDITH OCHS
(August 19, 2003)