The Young - Voyagers Of Legend.

I'm not really too active when it comes to seeking out current bands. Actually, I'll come across a lot of them due to friends recommending them to me, but I'll usually tire of them after 10 minutes. There's nothing wrong with the bands, it's just me. I'm old, I'm jaded. After more than ten years I have not grown tired of Black Flag or Negative Approach or Poison Idea, I can still listen to 'Age Of Quarrel' 'Forever changes' and 'Enter the Wu Tang' on a daily basis for three months straight. I guess I'm comfortable with what I like so I don't really feel the need to listen to current replays of records I love. Even bands that pipe themselves as 'creative' and 'innovative' are usually a mish-mash of a lot of good stuff that ends up sounding like shit when put together. The Young's LP 'Voyagers Of Legend' is an example of none of that, and to celebrate, I'll do the thing I hate and write a record review.

Like a lot of other current bands (that shall remain nameless), The Young build their sound on the foundations of 60s sounds sparked with a backbone of garage-y punk grunge (not Grunge). Unlike those bands, however, The Young don't seem to have any kind of retro-dress-up or 'look at me I'm weird' vibe. They just rock. And ooze. Kinda like an 18 wheeler full of lava lamps that just crashed into a south western desert rock (not Rock) formation.

I'm no musician, but writing an LP seems like tricky business.You need to balance the musical weight just right if you want it to seem like a cohesive piece of work, and not just a bunch of songs put together. In that sense, 'Voyagers of legend', just like 'Space ritual', 'Easter everywhere', or 'Youth Of America' (all pretty valid reference points if you ask me), flows perfectly from start to finish. So much, in fact, when it's over you just want to listen to it again, and again, and again, until a huge blur of desert landscapes complete with abandoned towns take over the room. Some time around then, you'll start feeling like you're stuck in a gravel pit with a quart of bourbon on your right hand, the most potent weed rolled up in your left, and no intention of leaving. Ever.

Just perfect.



The Young - 'Voyagers Of Legend' (Mexican Summer Records, 2010).