Birmingham trio Youth Man truly embody what it is to be a punk band through their raw, thrashy music and their Riot Grrrl attitude. The band have gained notoriety from their frenzied live performances, which is extremely understandable after listening to their music, and ‘Hill Of Knives’ can only add to this, whilst setting them apart from lots of other bands in punk.
The opening track from ‘Hill of Knives’, ‘Skin’, is a one minute, ferocious punk song filled with fast beats and angry vocals. It has already been played by rock legends Daniel P Carter and Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1, showing their ever growing support for independent punk music and more specifically, Youth Man. Kaila Whyte’s vocals are a prominent focal point during all songs on the EP as she talks, sings, shouts and mixes between the two unlike other modern day female vocalists can. She delivers each line with an exuberant passion that drives the melody and well as the emotion of Youth Man’s music. ‘Joy’ is based around an extremely catchy and melodic riff whilst vocalist Kaila Whyte croons dark vocals such as “standing in a pool of cold blood” over the top, creating ferocious, melancholic punk music for fans to go crazy to. This track feels different to ‘Skin’, as it is calmer and darker, featuring singing rather than shouting, but is still most definitely a Youth Man song, displaying their diversity when creating and expressing themselves through music.
‘Always The Same’ isn’t quite as gripping as other tracks such as ‘Skin’ or ‘Joy’ as it contains odd time signatures that are harder to enjoy, but the chorus retains the same caliginous, heavy, grunge presence that stands out throughout this EP. Youth Man claim to create expressive and honest music, which they do, but there is more to it than that. They have also created a heavy punk release with five interlocking songs that work perfectly together. This is encapsulated in final song ‘Dead Weight’, which seems to sum up their music all in one, ending the EP on an angry and emotional high.
With only 3 members, Youth Man have encapsulated and injected the passion and spirit of 80’s/90’s punk bands such as Dead Kennedys and Bikini Kill into their music whilst adding their own unique, modern day spin on it and early hardcore punk music itself.
OLIVIA DYTOR