I like it for sure. I don’t know that I love it, but I have no specific complaints and it’s generally enjoyable, I could see it growing on me. Honestly, even the difference between first and second listen was pretty huge, pretty consistently across every album. I dunno if I felt there were any real standout songs or albums, but it’s very very consistent, I do like it, and if these first listens are indicative are indicative of a broader growth curve over time/listens then I could see myself liking ‘em a lot more in the future. The first three albums especially were really easy to listen to and like in their entirety pretty immediately.
Albums four and five I’m not quite sold on. Mirror Master still has songs I like, to be sure, but not near as many as the earlier albums, and the ones I like I don’t like quite as much. Sometimes it’s more vibey, and I can get behind that. Sometimes it’s not more vibey so much as it’s… I dunno, ethereal? I don’t think that shift works as well for me. I have similar feelings on American Bollywood, despite how different the two albums are from each other. It’s aight, I’m not opposed to it, but on average I liked most songs less than the rest of their stuff and the songs I did like I didn’t like as much as the songs I like from other albums. Maybe Mirror and Bollywood will grow on me, but right now they’re my least favorite, with Mirror just edging out Bollywood. Bollywood feels is even more “ethereal” than Mirror, though I do like Bollywood’s back half. Both albums are artsy and thematic in a way that odds are will grow on me but on the first couple listens isn’t so much my jam.
But yeah on the whole of it Young the Giant is consistent and enjoyable and I expect to like it more as I keep listening to it. That’s an A I don’t have to think too hard about
tunafruitsandwitch 
Let’s get right to the point – Young the Giant gets an A from me. I really like them. I enjoyed the first listen and the second. And the third. I just keep listening. Nothing blew my mind, but my attention was consistently kept. I stayed engaged. Their music gives me the good feels. Their lyrics, well, I pay attention. I find them interesting. And each album is different. Like you could kind of tell it was the same band, but it also felt unexpected. That was unusual and super impressive to me.
My two favorite albums, interestingly Pod, were the last two. They were different than the rest and from each other. I connected to them both – musically and lyrically. I may have shed a tear. Whoever is writing the lyrics is going through something and I dig it.
Young the Giant has this ability to explore styles and themes and vibes without feeling too far out there. It’s like – hey do you want to visit a place you have never been and might feel foreign and scary to you? But also don’t worry, I’ll take you by the hand and stay by your side. You won’t get lost. And we’ll stay there long enough for you to get your bearings and then we will go someplace else and try it all again.
I look forward to hearing what they come up with next. Young the Giant is smart, interesting, thoughtful. I’m a fan – except for their name. I don’t connect to it. It feels like false advertising somehow. But who am I to complain about names (ahem MuBuS…)?
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After really getting into Young the Giant these past couple months, and doing a full relisten of them when you did your initial listen of them, it caused me to reflect a lot about my experiences listening to the band and I realized I’ve been with them for much longer than I thought. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to learn that Cough Syrup, one of my favorite songs ever, was written by them – my mom played me this song when I was really young, and I listened to it on repeat for years. This song is what carried me through middle school. It also took me back to when my younger brother was in the car with me one day, telling me about this new song they had released (Wake Up from the American Bollywood album) – that became a bonding moment for us, and now we talk music all the time, it’s just the way we have bonded and we are so close. All in all, Young the Giant has silently embedded itself into my relationships with my family, and it has been highly influential in my relationships with my friends. That really counts for something in my eyes.
Outside of sentimentality, I really just love their vibe. American Bollywood, I will be honest, I really struggled with for a while; I thought the music was weird. Turns out I just wasn’t used to that kind of sound, and the more I listened, the more I became hooked. There is so much good there, so much to engage with, and I truly love all of it. American Bollywood and my enjoyment with that album led me to listen to the rest of their albums, and the same thing happened there. The more I listen, the more of them I crave. I am able to continue to pull meaning from their lyrics, from their sound, from their union as a band, all of it. Music usually gets boring for me, but not them; in fact, I would say they are the only artist I have discovered to date where I can listen on repeat and not get tired of it.
There was definitely a listening curve for me. If you had asked me even at the beginning of this year how I felt about them, my response would be “I like ’em a good bit, they’re pretty solid”. Boy has that changed. Young the Giant has rooted itself into my heart, and I think anyone who gives them a couple listens can find something (or many things) that resonate with them to. S+ artist for me, this group changed my life and my taste in music, I wouldn’t give them up for the world
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I guess I’d better be on the lookout then! It sounds like I’m exactly the target market for them to sneak up on me until one day I adore them. They don’t have any connection to my family, but you never know. Neither did half•alive, a year ago, and now they’re totally a family band. I’m excited to see what happens
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