The Underground Youth - The Falling (2021)

Originally from UK but residing in Berlin, The Underground Youth is no stranger to anyone interested, even slightly, in darker post-punk music. Having said that, they are also masters of making it very approachable to anyone, who wants to taste the gothic darkness regardless of the music genre. They did it again, perhaps in the best way yet, on their, if I'm not mistaken, 10th album called The Falling.

I've always associated the band with more post-punk vibes but the reality is that their music, especially now, is more of gothic country/americana nature. The dark, gloomy and funeral-like vocals by Craig Dyer are the leading force of this music, providing the unreal but also intimate at the same time vibes all the way through. They are accompanied mostly by acoustic guitar and violins and this completes the uncanny country/americana of the darkest type kind of feel. For me it always resembles bands like The Black Heart Procession and their broken world.

The best track here is the one that has been with me for months now - A Sorrowful Race is a beautiful compromise between moody ballad and nervously gloomy, gothic anthem. But it was a close call as the band can easily turn the gears up and create faster and very catchy songs, primarily For You Are the One, one that's still extremely moody but can also make your feet dance instantly. One of the best releases of the year so far imho.

The Falling costs 7 GBP.

The Underground Youth - What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This? (2017) EN

Check: A Sorrowful Race

Country: UK/Germany

Genre: gothic country

Label: Fuzz Club

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The Underground Youth - What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This? (2017) EN

The album referring to the popular quite recently movies about dystopian worlds is not exactly new, it was released in February but it's so good that makes the release date quite a secondary issue.

The band balances between post-punk, shoegaze and post-punk and adds this difficult to define focus on making their music. It starts with unbelievably calm "Half Poison/Half God" and when you think it's just a lull before the storm there goes the song number one of the album, "Alice", and it's.... just as delicate. This way of singing and making music is what characterizes the Underground Youth but it also doesn't mean their songs are not catchy ones, "Alice" for instance is really good to hum.

Don't misunderstand me, the music of the Underground Youth has also a lot of dark tension inside, as the, uniquely intriguing title of the album suggests. It is created mostly by the deep vocal that makes me think of the American gothic by Black Heart Procession (especially great in "A Dirty Piece Of Love For Us To Share"). The album fits perfectly the dystopian hellholes around the world.

"What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This?" costs 5 GBP.

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The Underground Youth - What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This? (2017) PL

Album nawiązujący tytułem do popularnych jeszcze niedawno filmów o antyutopiach nie jest do końca nowy, wydany został bowiem w lutym tego roku. Niemniej jest na tyle godny uwagi, że tak nieistotne sprawy jak data wydania schodzą na dalszy plan. 

Zespół balansuje pomiędzy post-punkiem, shoegaze'em i wave'em, a do tego dokłada trudną do zdefiniowania uwagę z jaką przekazuje swoją muzykę. Zaczyna się wyjątkowo spokojnym "Half Poison/Half God" i gdy wydaje się, że jest to tylko cisza przed burzą nadciąga hicior albumu, "Alice", i jest on... niemal tak samo delikatny. Ten sposób śpiewania i grania wyróżnia the Underground Youth, a do tego wcale nie zwalnia ich z pisania chwytliwych kompozycji, "Alice" nuci się bardzo dobrze.

Nie należy przy tym źle nie zrozumieć, muzyka na krążku ma też w sobie dużo mrocznego napięcia, tak jak, wyjątkowo intrygujący, tytuł płyty wskazuje. Dodaje go przede wszystkim głęboki wokal budzący skojarzenia na przykład z amerykańskim gotykiem Black Heart Procession (świetny w "A Dirty Piece Of Love For Us To Share"). Krążek w sam raz do tego antyutopijnego grajdołka.

"What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This?" kosztuje 24 złote (5 GBP).

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