What happens when you take current and former members of Comeback Kid, The Grave Life, Carpenter, Living With Lions, and Daggermouth, put them in a room and leave them to make a record? Chemistry isn’t our strong point, and Youth Decay is the answer. The hardcore/pop punk supergroup straight outta Vancouver, Canada.
Coming off the back of an EP that caught the attention of the media on both sides of the pond, their full-length debut ‘The Party’s Over’ was released on New Damage Records early November 2015, and if for some reason it’s shot past you without you realising, now is your chance to go and check it out.
And we highly recommend you do, because you’ll struggle to find a record as fun as this released in 2015, believe us.
Combining the best elements of Four Year Strong and A Day To Remember, with the most classic vibe of ‘90s and ‘00s hardcore punk, Youth Decay have a distinct vibrancy to them that make them an incredibly endearing listen.
The opening three tracks, ‘Balance’, ‘Landslide’ and ‘Hysteria’ are a masterclass in melody, balancing beautiful singalong lines with slamming riffs and hardcore vocals. If anyone needs to learn what Youth Decay are all about, these three tracks are the perfect introduction. From there, you get the Every Time I Die-esque ‘Slow Clap’, which is an out and out hardcore song with all the pace of H20 and all the bounce of The Offspring. Short and sweet, it’s everything that’s good about punk rock.
A standout track from the EP, it’s also worth highlighting the remastered and re-recorded version of ‘Little Winnipeg’ that’s included on ‘The Party’s Over’, again demonstrating their ability to mould together a catchy punk rock song with more hardcore sensibilities. From the end of the night crooning on title track ‘The Party’s Over’, to the hardcore venom of ‘Pot vs Kettle’, which has echoes of Bane, there’s something for everyone on the punk rock spectrum within the album.
There’s only one real negative when listening to ‘The Party’s Over’, and it’s a real nitpick from us, because let’s be honest – this album rules, is to do with the overall flow. There are tracks that are more classic punk rock, more out and out hardcore punk, and more pop-punk infused songs, however how they all slot together has an almost jarring feel to it. They’re all great songs, just ordered slightly strangely, and at times feeling like they’re a band with almost too many ideas that they wanted to include in the space of one record.
Even with that ever so slight negative, we’re still massive fans of ‘The Party’s Over’, and even bigger fans of Youth Decay.
One thing’s for sure, this party ain’t over.
CHRIS ROBINSON