The Smith Westerns were still in high school when they first won over the online music world with their excitingly gritty, self-titled debut. Post graduation, the band sounds just as eagerly optimistic as before. Their bubbling youth shines throughout their second effort Dye It Blonde, but despite their lack of experience, they still aim high. The Smith Westerns make rambunctiously large music. They pay homage to your favorite garage and glam rock groups by giving you roughly edged anthems to both drift and cheer along with.
“All Die Young” could already be the power ballad of the year, and it is definitely reminiscent of a couple of timeless classics from before. First, there’s a breath of Mott the Hoople’s “All The Young Dudes” here that I cannot get over. Lead singer Cullen Omori gracefully carries himself over a beautifully dreary song, comforting listeners from the cries of the wavering organ and slide guitar. Like “All The Young Dudes,” it’s a song to celebrate at the bar but cry to when alone. The song erupts in melody until it finally ends, and there’s no better way to explain to you the similarities here to John Lennon’s 1970 classic “Instant Karma” than by just telling you that they’re there. I can almost hear the Beatles icon belting out, “And we all shine on…”
