Blondfire – Young Heart

Artist: Blondfire
Album: Young Heart
Released: February 11, 2014
Label: Tender Tender Rush
Website: blondfiremusic.tumblr.com

After almost six years since their last album, Blondfire displays impeccable timing by releasing Young Heart just in time for Valentine’s Day. The sibling duo of Erica and Bruce Driscoll offers up a fresh stadium-rock-inspired, pop album with Cali flavor.

Imagine Young Heart as if it’s a party on the beach. With a bonfire. During sunset. Blondfire gives early-comers a warm up song with the light, military-cadenced title track, “Young Heart”. Then, the party picks up with the more up-tempo jams. “Where the Kids Are” sets the tone as Erica Driscoll chants about growing up and being care-free. The catchy rhythms and melodies that Blondfire delivers on songs like “Walking With Giants” are hard to fight. Dancing is inevitable while listening to this album.

The party slows down a little with “Hide and Seek”, but the dance break is short lived with “Dear in Your Headlights” as the next track. This is the high point of the album. And yes, “dear” is spelled correctly. The song pulls you in with its addicting guitar riffs and super-catchy “I will not sleep” chants. It takes the party to another level. The album begins to wind down after that, but Blondfire still delivers quality tracks like the potential college-aged anthem “Wild and Wasted” and the revolution-inspired “We Are One”. The party comes to a proper close with “Life of the Party”, an up-tempo track about being free. The final two songs on Young Heart, “Right Gone Wrong” and “The Only Ones”, are the types of songs that play as the bonfire dims and everyone leaves the beach, which is now littered with red Solo cups and good times.

Blondfire arranges the tracklist of Young Heart to near perfection. It just flows. Each song sounds like it was written whilst sitting on a cloud, looking down at the world, and reflecting on life. Underneath the contagious beats are deep, thoughtful lyrics about the chances you take, the obstacles you face, and the memories you make while growing up. This is a record for the young, reckless, loving, adventurous, partying teens and twenty-somethings in the world. Blondfire just wants people to know that past mistakes and regrets don’t matter once you realize that “everything’s better with a little love in your life” (Walking With Giants).

Reviewed by Taryn Peters