I’m not sure if there is such a music idiom as “neo-yacht rock” but if there is, Young Gun Silver Fox would surely be at the top of that heap. Andy Platts and Shawn Lee summon their collective prowess as songwriters, musicians and singers to put in new entries in the Southern California-based soft rock library of the mid-70s to early 80s. Back then it was called ‘adult contemporary,’ but nowadays it’s affectionately (or not) called ‘yacht rock.’ There are now ten more new entries into this music style once left for dead as Platts and Lee have released their third album in the last five years, Canyons.
Plats and Lee don’t seem to mind at all the mockery made of this unthreatening music made in the Carter-Reagan times because they know that a lot of Boomers still dig it and ever more people from later generations have turned on to it. When Platts woos and coos through “Kids” over a lightly funky, hand-made bass/drums construction, a reliable electric piano and Lee’s tasty rhythm guitar — over a melody with fully thought-out verses, refrains and a bridge — well, that’s the surest sign that pop music today ain’t what it used to be. What’s more, those lyrics are predominantly timeless G-rated romantic themes, which might seem so radical these days.
Like every Young Gun Silver Fox album, Canyons is music made to move you with a nudge, not a shove. “Things We Left Unsaid” starts with the same mid-tempo beat as the Isley Brothers’ “Footsteps In The Dark” (and why not, it’s a great groove) and Lee’s rhythm guitars soon fill out the melody as Platt’s blue-eyed soul croon, almost a dead ringer for David Pack of Ambrosia. “Long Distance Long Affair” shows off layered harmonies in the chorus and a tight little groove during the verses. “Just For Kicks” could have been comfortable on Robbie Dupree’s debut LP, but then there’s a funky bass-led breakdown in the middle of it.
Platts and Lee always seem intent on putting you in a good mood. “Baby Girl” (video above) has a light, sunny vibe as well as their crafty penchant for layering in sounds almost unnoticeably. “Who Needs Words” suggests what Steely Dan might sound like if they had decided to make an upbeat song.
As in other YGSF records, horns appear on several tracks to bolster the sound and add a touch of extra sophistication. On “Dream Woman” the brass takes on a bigger role, a little punchier and deeper woven into the fabric of the song. Yet, “All This Love” is pretty strain with little else outside of Platt’s voice and a piano, but that’s all that’s needed, and “Danny Jamaica” isn’t reggae but would make good theme music for a 70s sitcom.
Almost all of these hooked-filled songs run in radio-ready three-to-four minute range, if only that kind of radio still existed today. The next best thing is to just play Canyons from start to finish, imagining you’re tuned into circa 1980 radio in an alternate universe where Young Gun Silver Fox is the chart champ.
Canyons is out now, through Colemine Records‘ Karma Chief imprint.
[See our review of Young Gun Silver Fox’s 2018 release, AM Waves]
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