Album Review: McCafferty – Yarn

Four years ago, just as McCafferty were building up a head of steam with their sweat-soaked, highly caffeinated blend of emo and punk, then they abruptly put their musical aspirations on pause, but even though McCafferty disappeared they lived on through their songs. The band continued to build a following by word of mouth, and now they are back with the sophomore album, Yarn, their first release for Triple Crown Records. Yarn follows up their 2017 comeback EP, Thanks. Sure. Sorry, that saw the band return from the wilderness, and it must be said that Yarn is an album that indicates that McCafferty are back with a vengeance.

Loser kicks Yarn Off with some low key strumming before the song bursts into life with almighty cry and a spike in energy levels that marks a stunning start to this twelve track comeback. Yarn continues to delight with the autobiographical Paper, Pencil, Copyright and the album’s strident title track. There are gentler moments that punctuate the album such as It’s A, that carries a distinctly Syd Barrett-esque quality, and TOEWGMO that reflects their emo influences. But for me it’s Westboro Sadness that stands out as the album’s finest moment, a pure focused expression of rage that was written in response to the Steubenville football rapes, this track and it’s successor, Prolly, are two of the finest punk rock songs you’ll hear all year.

Yarn is album of big choruses with hearty woahs that carries the craft and emotion of their earlier recordings and this is an album that stays true to McCafferty‘s origins, but Yarn also carries a far greater emphasis on their punk rock influences than their previous releases. This has been achieved without sacrificing the qualities that led to them building a die hard following during their hiatus, the quality of the songwriting is as strong as ever, it just seems more focused and energised. McCafferty‘s return is a more than welcome one, and with Yarn they have released a full length that I’m confident will be amongst the best album’s I hear this year.

McCafferty‘s Facebook page can be found here

Yarn can be pre-ordered here