Labels: Criminal IQ
Review by: Andy Malcolm
You know if you pick up a slab of vinyl on Criminal IQ that you’ll generally be treated to something worth bashing your ears in for. The Young are no exception, cranking through 4 songs of distortion heavy punk with a sizable rock and roll intrusion. The Young dish up scratchy, almost Revolution Summer style vocals over buzzing guitars that crank things at a frenzied pace. The first song is indeed like a weird mix of Rites of Spring and the Marked Men. Not exactly a combination that I expected to ever hear, but it works really well. They perhaps lean more on the rock and roll side of the sound for the rest of the EP, belting out some hectic jams with a furious energy. All told this is a pretty sound seven, although it takes until the final track to hit the scorching highs that it initially promises, but there are plenty of killer touches that make this a worthy listen in the meantime. The dynamite intro to closer “Cemetary Town” again seems to lean on a slicing mid 80s DC sound, particularly in the bass. They then throwdown the intense rhythms over the top, to make it the standout track on this single.
One to investigate, I think when or if they get an album out, it’ll be well worth a look.