The Henry Clay People | Twenty-Five For the Rest of Our Lives A Review

Loud but far from obnoxious the Los Angeles based The Henry Clay People are among the proud and rightfully pissy latest iteration of rock music with their new album Twenty-Five For the Rest of Our Lives. The album might start off with a mic test but there is nothing scientific about the music that follows. Similar to The Thermals in style, the energetic sound of The Henry Clay People is rooted in what made rock music so unapologetically willful, boyish and enjoyable.

Being in the prime of life and not having much to worry about has always been a popular theme for musicians and that sentiment is properly expressed on this album’s title track. In the way that Japanther made last year a little bit more tolerable with their enthusiastic album Beats, Limes and Rice, The Henry Clay People’s latest brings some much needed life to 2012’s indie rock scene. They seem to relish in the  realization that the bands they grew up with have become less than ideal in their eyes, as it’s put in the track Everybandweeverloved, most great bands are either selling out or breaking up. A fact that is often overlooked by most music fans due to apathy or nostalgia, but they forgot the ones which became rich and stopped giving a shit about the music they produce or maybe that was covered in the selling out part. The track Hide starts off with a touch of synth that leads into a full blown critique of the state of society and its current woes.

The members of The Henry Clay People may be nostalgic but are far from apathetic. They have taken it upon themselves with their latest album Twenty-Five For the Rest of Our Lives to remind even the most cynical music listeners what  it is about being young and pissed off that can be such a pure joy.