In and Out of Youth and Lightness
by Young Widows
LABEL: Temporary Residence Limited

It’s unfortunate, but there’s one particularly arid and tedious words that I love using when describing an album: consistency. This isn’t so much qualitative as idealogical. So few bands can keep an album driving in the same direction with any degree of force and energy, and so typically divert off into directions that may shake up the listener but leave records spotty and incoherent, leaving a sour taste upon otherwise flawless composition. With In and Out of Youth and Lightness, Young Widows have made one pummeling statement on par with The Cure’s Pornography or Godflesh’s Streetcleaner in terms of purity and coherence to a desired goal.

“...those who manage to push themselves through the dense wall of melancholy and doom will find something strikingly original.”

Musically, the album is fairly straightforward and unflourished. It’s a distressingly dark rock album similar to The God Machine, Queens of the Stone Age at their sludgiest moments, and even the repetitive attrition of Swans. There’s also a hint of Neurosis-style doom-folk, enhanced by Evan Patterson’s low, drawling vocals. The songs are raw, slow, simple but intelligent at the same time. Each one is a story with an emphasis on the lyrical telling similar to Swans or even Leonard Cohen.

Very little light peaks into the album, and the songs seem to grow slower, muddier, crueler and more powerful as the album builds into a towering attack of crawling despair and personal debasement. The production of the record keeps things tight and with plenty of space for the instruments to breathe, and while it might have benefited from a little noisier mix, the vintage warmth of the album makes the plodding pace that much more profound and distinct.

Slow and dirgeful, In and Out of Youth and Lightness by Louisville’s Young Widows touches upon a whole host of influences while still maintaining a singular and different vision. While it won’t be a favorite in everyone’s repertoire, those who manage to push themselves through the dense wall of melancholy and doom will find something strikingly original.


REVIEWED BY NEIL LEVENS
NEIL’S FAVE TRACKS: “Young Rivers” • “In and Out of Lightness” • “In and Out of Youth”


FREE MP3: “Future Heart” (right-click & save)

Young Widows "Future Heart" Official Music Video from Jeremy Johnstone on Vimeo.