Youth Group
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HQ: Sydney, Australia NOW PLAYING: Casino Twilight Dogs (ANTI-; anti.com) WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: Because aside from having cool accents, these Aussies craft some of the most memorable dream-pop any continent has ever seen. YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE? Death Cab For Cutie / The Shins / The Smiths Having your big break be a cover song doesn't really lend itself to career longevity-just ask the smooth criminals in Alien Ant Farm. "When we recorded the song, we didn't have any expectations, but it just got this amazing reaction and it tends to be beyond us now," explains Youth Group frontman Toby Martin about the band's cover of Alphaville's "Forever Young," which was prominently featured on The O.C. and recently won the distinction of best breakthrough single at the ARIA Awards, the Aussie equivalent of the Grammys. "That song has got a momentum that's unstoppable in a way." However, Youth Group-which also features drummer Danny Allen, guitarist Cameron Emerson-Elliott and former Vines bassist Patrick Matthews-have proved they're no novelty act with their new full-length, Casino Twilight Dogs. Delightfully melancholy and hopelessly literary (how many bands do you know that can get away with using words like "infinitesimally" in their lyrics?), the album ebbs and flows through mid-tempo orchestral-pop ("Sorry"), dreamy guitar rock ("Catching And Killing") and nostalgic balladry ("Daisy Chains") with equal aplomb. Not bad for a band that almost broke up when they were recording their last album. "Skeleton Jar took kind of a long time to record, members came and went and there were times I thought the band would fade away," Martin candidly admits about the band's 2005 stateside debut. However, with a solid lineup and label behind them, the group were much more confident going into Casino Twilight Dogs. "I think this is more of an ensemble record," Martin explains. "We were a real band recording Dogs, so we spent a lot more time arranging and demoing the songs. I think the complexity comes from working hard in the rehearsal space rather than spending a lot of time doing overdubs in the recording studio." And while there's a fair share of morbidity on Casino Twilight Dogs (the words "kill" and "dead" both pop up in song titles), Martin insists that the band don't spend all of their time scribbling poetry in their notebooks-only some of it. "The next record is going to be about how we're a goth band," Martin jokes. "No, I think if you met us, we would definitely disappoint in that area," he continues-and the fact that he chuckles as much as he speaks during our interview confirms his statement. "Cameron wrote the title for 'Catch And Kill,' so you can blame him for that." So, there's no teenage angst coming from the ex-Vine? "Nah, Patrick's got pretty broad musical taste and we have a lot of common ground," Martin says, laughing. "People would be surprised at how much music he listens to that's not, like, Nirvana." -Jonah Bayer UNDER THE INFLUENCE "One record that fundamentally influenced Casino Twilight Dogs was VELVET UNDERGROUND's self-titled album," says Youth Group's Toby Martin. "I like how the songs are so quiet and delicate, yet still have an edge. It also sounds live, like four people playing in a room together, which was something we were trying to capture." ALT |
