I came by this interesting little track by The Underground Youth browsing the blogs I follow and was interested to see it on a page dedicated to some good modern psych bands. True, there are a lot of psychedelic aspects to their sound, but for me it is more of a hybrid of psych and early 80’s electronic as performed by bands such as Cabaret Voltaire. It has the abrasive, sinister vocals redolent of that era and a drum machine backbeat to match. Then the mood changes, losing the drums and focusing on overlaid keyboards and spoken, unfocussed words, becoming more psych and giving the track the feel of a trip gone wrong, more nightmare than dream-state, before the drums and vocals kick in again.
I liked the way the music progresses, the mood may be claustrophobic, but the tempo change ensures it doesn’t get stale. The slightly echoing texture of the piece suits the mood perfectly. Think the Editors do acid and you’re getting closer to the sound The Underground Youth have achieved here. The track is one of four found on the ‘Beautiful and Damned’ digital album released in October 2014 by this Manchester based band. If you’re really smitten, there’s a limited addition vinyl too, if they aren’t already snapped up by now. Well worth a listen for the paltry amount the band are asking on Bandcamp.
I’ll be watching to see how The Underground Youth progress, and might be
planning a little trip down the M6 next time they do a home gig, to see if the live experience produces the same thrilling sense of unease as the record does.