Young the Giant
is an American rock band from Irvine, California. Its current lineup consists of Sameer Gadhia as lead vocalist, Jacob Tilley and Eric Cannata as guitarists, Payam Doostzadeh on bass, and François Comtois on the drums. All five of them are either immigrants or sons of immigrants.
The band began life in 2004 as The Jakes, with a lineup of Sameer and Jacob alongside Addam Farmer, Kevin Massoudi, and Ehson Hashemian. After a few personnel shake-ups, the band settled by 2008 as Sameer, Jacob, Ehson, Eric, François, and Jason Burger. While they had recorded an EP during this period, Shake My Hand, each member had to soon choose between schooling and music. There were further roster shuffles in this early period, where Jason and Ehson were swapped out for Payam, and in December 2009, The Jakes changed their name to Young the Giant shortly before releasing their debut Self-Titled Album through Roadrunner Records.
After several singles from Young the Giant achieved minor commercial chart success, the band switched over to the more genre-friendly Fueled by Ramen to release their next two albums, Mind Over Matter and Home of the Strange. These and later albums Mirror Master and American Bollywood have continued to explore themes of identity and self-discovery.
Members
- Sameer Gadhia — lead vocals, percussion, keyboards, guitar (since 2004)
- Jacob Tilley — guitar, synthesizer, mellotron (since 2004)
- Eric Cannata — guitar, vocals, keyboards (since 2007)
- Payam Doostzadeh — bass guitar, synthesizer, vocals (since 2008)
- François Comtois — bass guitar (2004-2007); drums, percussion, vocals (since 2007)
Former members, as The Jakes
- Ehson Hashemian — keyboards, piano, synthesizers (2004-2009)
- Jason Burger — drums (2007)
- Sean Fischer — drums (2004-2007)
- Addam Farmer — unknown
Studio Discography
- 2008 — Shake My Hand (as The Jakes)
- 2010 — Young The GiantSingles
- 2014 — Mind Over MatterSingles
- 2016 — Home of the StrangeSingles
- 2018 — Mirror MasterSingles
- 2022 — American BollywoodSingles
- Act I — Origins
- Act II — Exile
- Act III — Battle
- Act IV — Denoument
Tropes applying to Young The Giant include:
- Age-Progression Song:
- Each verse of Mirror Master's "You + I" describes the singer's life with another woman; when they first meet at a party, when they're adults wrangling housework, and when they're old and gray, helping each other down the stairs.
- The two verses of American Bollywood's "American Bollywood" cut between the protagonistnote being thirteen, and then twenty-four, years old.
- Book Ends: Their Self-Titled Album's "Apartment" begins and ends thus:After leaving my apartment,
I feel this cold inside me
...
After leaving your apartment,
I hear the coast! - Burn Baby Burn: The music video for "American Bollywood" features a dollhouse on a beach set ablaze, while Sameer kneels in front of it on the sand.
- Careful with That Axe: Downplayed with Mind Over Matter's "Crystallized", which begins with a brief shout.
- The Charmer: "Silvertongue" is about the singer's talent with charming someone into bed with just his words.
- Colour-Coded Emotions: Mirror Master's "Darkest Shade of Blue" links depression and sadness to the color blue, while comforting a person in its throes, telling them that they're not alone.
- Determinator: The chorus of "My Body" memorably reflects the attitude of perservering past the point of your own physical endurance."My body tells me 'no',
But I won't quit, 'cause I want more." - Despair Event Horizon: The opening lines of "Cough Syrup" have the singer declaring that "life's too short to even care at all", and the rest of the song is about him seeking some miracle cure to "restore life the way it should be". It's little wonder that the song was used to score a suicide attempt in Glee.
- Eagleland: Home of the Strange frequently leans into critiquing "'Murica the Boorish", with album opener "Amerika" commenting on the false promises the United States offers immigrants only to often leave them feeling rejected. The title track wraps the album up on a slightly more optimistic note, playing off of "America the Beautiful's" reflections on the nation's promise but suggesting they have been unmet.
- Fun with Acronyms: The band's previous name, The Jakes, was pulled from the first initials of Jacob, Addam, Kevin, Ehson, and Sameer.
- An Immigrant's Tale: Several songs in their discography comment on the band members' experience of being immigrants to the United States, with "Amerika", the album opener of Home of the Strange, most directly targeting the topic."And so I've arrived
With gold in my eyes
Are you paying attention?" - Know-Nothing Know-It-All: "Mr Know-it-All" is about a couple who both fancy themselves to be very sophisticated, listening to David Bowie and Mozart and quoting Ernest Hemingway. However, the narrator (who eventually identifies himself as "Mr. Know-it-All") confirms that neither of them are actually all that smart (implying that they can't reference anything outside of the big names), that he is "boring as fuck", and that they both rely on drugs and cheap thrills to cover up for how shallow they and their relationship truly are.
- Multi-Part Episode: In an interview with 105.7: The Point, Gadhia states that American Bollywood is to be told in four acts: Origins, Exile, Battle, and Denoument.
- Shout-Out: From Mind Over Matter's "It's About Time":
- Siamese Twin Songs: Mind Over Matter's "Slow Dive" has no dialogue, and leads directly into "Anagram".
- Textless Album Cover: Two of their album covers have no wording on them:
- Home of the Strange has a procession of multicolored emigrants making a pilgrimage to a living mountain.
- Mirror Master has a crowd of multicolored figures looking up at a square-shaped void in the sky.
- Title Track: Their only album to avert this is their Self-Titled Album.
- Unplugged Version: The band produces an "In The Open" remix of many of their songs, using only acoustic instruments.
