“Happy As Can Be” opens the full-length debut from New Zealand’s Cut Off Your Hands, and deftly nails two bull’s eyes: racing drums give the tune a jittery, post-punk edge, but the stadium-sized vocals and impenetrable layers of guitar belie a band ready for the big time. While there is a healthy crop of current bands (the Rakes, Kaiser Chiefs, Good Shoes, Maximo Park, etc.) making energetic, pop-punk music with revivalist tendencies, there is always room for another as long as the song craft is solid and unique. Consider the innocent pop bliss of “Oh Girl” (“It’s been 15 days since I held your hand ... Oh, girl!”) and “Let’s Get Out of Here,” the somber anti-hymn that is “In The Name Of Jesus Christ,” or the waltzing balladry of “Heartbreak;” the band frequently steps away from the manic guitars and post-punk yelp that’s come to be expected (and is done so well, we might point out, on “Expectations” and “Turn Cold”) to show they’re capable of much more. Don’t let the poignant “Someone Like Daniel” get by without a focused listen; it’s one of You & I’s most memorable moments.
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