When feelings take over: From bedroom pop to heavy pop.
The Haunted Youth’s debut was like that of another band: soft bedroom pop, the project also being a solo project by Joachim Liebens. Both are no longer true: the solo thing has now grown into a whole, real band, and the sound is also decidedly different. There is little sense of softness left, no, Liebens and the rest of the band have discovered amplifiers. The Belgians still write pop harmonies, but now they are put into a much louder costume, somewhere in between “Heavy Pop” the decade phenomenon Wu Lyf (who are also returning these days), pop metal and indie rock, and above all of course emo.
No wonder that bands like My Bloody Valentine were their inspiration and are cited as inspiration. There are still tender moments inspired by the 80s, for example on “Hurt!”. But the louder moments dominate, like immediately afterwards, for example “Murder Me.” The song titles like “Death Wish”, “Falling To Pieces” or, quite obviously, “Emo Song” already revealed: Emo is not dead.
But is it more than just a phase? Will show. Until then, you can have a lot of fun with this album. Especially if you’re under 25 – or feel like you are – and your feelings take over.
