Labels: ghidorah records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Phew. I was starting to get worried that Yankeemo bands were dying out. It’s been a horrendously long while since we were delivered a 12″ vinyl slab of classic emo. Fortunately, Juvenescent Beat! are on hand to summon up the ghosts of emo past and not utterly fail into the bargain. It’s perhaps a bit early to elevate this to the status of the Pine, Sinaloa, REDS, Life at These Speeds, Bailer etc, but this is damn fucking close. I also love the fact that this LP looks like it should be on Ebullition, with it’s type writer font insert, two colour cover featuring ancient warfare, and a sweet photo on the back of the band with the singer writhing on the floor. Of course, there is reverance, and there is being a carbon copy. Juvenescent Beat! are clearly in possession of the former, as this LP has so much to offer those that enjoy the good old emo.
The album bounds out of the gate with “I Don’t Want to Spend New Year’s In A Coma”, melodic and forceful with dual vocals setting the scene and occasional spoken parts to spice things up. Yes, this is emo through and through but whilst it’d be all to easy to come off as cheesey and replicated, this album feels utterly fresh and invigorating. The vocals are key to why this works, hoarse, sung / shouted, Rites of Spring is presumably the influence. The sound is pitched somewhere between RoS, Still Life and Life at These Speeds, a little from each decade of emo if you will. Initially there were certain songs that stuck out more for me than others, but given repeated listens this starts to become a cohesive whole, a great listen from beginning to end, but there are spectacular moments such as when “Sad Songs About Rivers and Meadows” bursts out of spoken vocals into it’s tumultuous, end of the world finale, blazing away wildly. This is the good shit. Following is “He Used to Rap About the Apocalypse” where the widdly guitar really reminds me of Party of Helicopters, but then it cruises into this emo as fuck chorus where everyone is yelling and falling around. Fucking yes! At times you will be aware that this band is being kind of tongue in cheek (re: that “Sad Songs” title) about the whole emo thing, very much in the same way of I Hate Myself. Tongue can be in cheek at the same time as heart worn on the sleeve. And the lyrics are so classic emo it’s ridiculous, bands don’t write shit like this any more! Probably as it’s not a particularly “cool” thing to be doing. Pick of the LP for me is the wrapper, “It’s Not About the Money, It’s About the Glory” with a stunning spoken word part that spirals into an utter Native Nod style sobfest of an ending. Brutal.
This is a shit hot LP, if you continue to have any interest at all in emo music, you should be listening to this one. Hop to it.