Album Review: Youth Group – Australian Halloween

Over ten years since they last released a record, Youth Group are back with an accidental album. Written in an abandoned laundromat in Huddersfield, the adopted UK home of lead singer Dr Toby Martin, what were supposed to be new songs for another solo album morphed into the band’s latest record.

Standout track and topical lead single Cusp is the classic sound of Youth Group, but with a more carefree approach, which funnily enough is very Real Estate-esque. Despite the subject matter of the song – an outsider’s view of Brexit – it’s one of the more laidback songs on the album. Bat Piss, whose chorus evokes Paul Kelly’s Leaps And Bounds, juggles being a rock star and a parent, while the nostalgic Erskineville Nights recalls past inner-west Sydney living.

Having spent a limited time recording the ten tracks in Sydney, and despite two band members having to fly from different parts of the northern hemisphere, the record doesn’t sound rushed, quite the opposite in fact. Anyone who played in a band, moved on and lived their life but never lost the love of it will be able to relate to this album on some level, and there is a simple freedom at the album’s core, celebrated without any trace of bitterness. Worth a listen for music fans wondering what happens when bands grow up, move away and find their way back home.