The album cover for Young Jesus's Home looks like they just grabbed a bunch of their friends, posed underneath a tree and had somebody take a picture. Not that it's poorly done or looks bad, but the near unprofessionalism belies the music within.
From “Family and Friends,” a two-and-a-half introduction of sorts, you know this is an album with ambition. The second song, “David,” is most representative of the band's fun sort of pop-rock sound driven by lead singer John Rossiter's deep, passionate vocals that go from mellow, earnest singing to shouting in key at the drop of a hat. Underneath are layers of metallic-sounding clean guitars and the almost melodic beats from drummer Peter Martin, who joins with Rossiter's vocals to give the band their developed sense of dynamics.
“Falling For You” starts off quietly, with Rossiter singing over the single strums of a gorgeous clean guitar, until the bass comes in, then the rest of the band, and track three takes off. Bassist Shawn Nystrand shows off some of his skills, and Rossiter continues to impress with his singing abilities, especially in the backing vocals and melodies.
“New Cool” is a slight departure from the previous songs, trading in the chords for arpeggios, and containing a catchy staccato drum beat and doubled vocals.
“News” brings on the acoustic guitar, and a little blues. Once again, Rossiter's Gahan-esque vocals take center stage. About halfway through, the acoustic is traded in for the band's trademark clean electric guitar for a happy, funky breakdown and guitar solo. Rossiter screams through to the end, giving this song a noticeable climax, to a round of applause from the imagined audience.
The band does a quiet, melancholy and atmospheric reprise of the first song, “Family and Friends,” with more acoustic guitar and chanting background vocals. Aside from the backing vox it's instrumental, and serves to bridge the gap between the first and second halves of the album.
Young Jesus pick it up again with “Away,” and for the first time, we get a bit of distortion on the guitar as it fights to overpower the vocals. The guitar may be louder, but as with every other song on Home, John Rossiter's vocals are the centerpiece, practically the whole reason for the song's existence. "Away" has some cool interludes, and an extended drumroll with some atmospheric guitar effects, but you kind of forget about them whenever the singing starts back up. This is another screamer, with the band going nuts behind their lead singer as he switches between yelling and singing.
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