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Following one of the most colourful and enchanting debut albums in recent memory should have been a tricky task, but it seems that TYS are the real deal: a modern progressive rock band with an intuitive grasp of everything that makes this stuff so compelling when executed right. Stranger Heads Prevail is a three-dimensional riot of ideas, as these young New Jerseyites plunder the history of prog (and, indeed, pop) and turn it into an ageless celebration of melodic music’s most bonkers possibilities. The band’s post-hardcore hinterland only really emerges through the androgynous voice of singer Salvatore Marrano, who sounds enough like label boss Claudio Sanchez (of Coheed & Cambria) to give the likes of The Somnambulist an appeal beyond the prog perimeter fence, but in every other respect this is end-to-end art rock euphoria.
Shades of XTC, The Beatles and Frank Zappa are all in evidence, but fans of Between The Buried And Me are equally well served, as intricate sprawls like Mr. Invisible and Psychopomp skip nimbly across genre divisions, hurling out huge melodies and countless yelp-inducing surprises like men truly possessed by the spirit of liberated creativity. A thrilling, multifaceted eruption of pure prog joy.
