New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Youth League, the post-pop trio from Wilmington, NC, has released a new music video for a song off their debut EP First. The instrumentally-driven track, "For John," shuffles in nonchalantly before exploding into a passionate and aggressive climax. The song pushes and pulls frantically while still being able to find a solid groove and shows how much can be said in a song without any words.
"For John is about loss. Written for a family member Zack and Mike lost recently. The decision to write a song without words reflects the idea that there are no words for the loss of a loved one." -Youth League.
Their debut EP First was released on 4/21 via the Cardigan Records. The six track record clocks in at just 16 minutes and marries rough punk edges with pop sensibility.
Upcoming Tour with Iselia and Bear Girl.
July 9th, 2015 - Atlanta, GA @ The 529
July 10th, 2015 - Augusta, GA @ Sky City
July 11th, 2015 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
July 12th, 2015 - Glen Rock, PA @ The Hoe Down Throw Down
July 14th, 2015 - Richmond, VA @ Creative Artspace
July 15th, 2015 - Baltimore, MD @ The Side Bar
July 16th, 2015 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
July 17th, 2015 - Dover, NJ @ Baker Theatre
July 29th, 2015 - Wilmington, NC @ Reggies 42nd Street Tavern
July 30th, 2015 - Southern Pines, NC @ Willies
July 31st, 2015 - Winston Salem, NC @ The Garage
About Youth League:
In George's Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four, Julia Dixon wore a red sash around her waist to symbolize her membership in the severe, dogmatic Junior Anti Sex League. Readers will of course remember this to be not only a false diversion, but also something of a shield - a metaphorical lid placed publicly on the top of a vat brimming with subversion, of thoughts and actions which existed only to defy the status quo.
Youth League, a similarly-named trio from Wilmington, N.C., feels similar in approach, if more sunny in disposition. Brothers Mike and Zach Large, on guitar/vocals and drums respectively, formed the band in 2014 from the ashes of math aggressors Virgin Lung. They brought in bassist Jaffar Omar Obi Castillon-Martinez and created songs which defy the conventions on which they're built, yet hit the ear with a natural familiarity.
On First EP, Youth League weaves layers of guitar loops, manic drumming, bass tapping, inviting whispers, and desperate hollers into songs which are over before you recognize that you just got clobbered over the head.
Clocking in at just 16 minutes, it's hard to tell if these six jams are punk ragers with a deceptive technical streak running throughout, or thunderous prog/math compositions that never descend into repetetive self parody or distracted, noodly exploration. Topping it off are sounds at odds with either tradition: the celebratory, the uplifting, the instantly singable. Youth League calls it Post Pop. Whatever it is, it's great.
