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Brutal Youth

Rebuilding Year

Written by: PP on 20/11/2023 14:36:06

Brutal Youth from Toronto, Ontario plays a particularly ferocious kind of melodic hardcore punk intertwined with catchy clean vocals in between breakneck speed havoc that resembles the volatility of Kid Dynamite records. Their fourth album "Rebuilding Year" is their first since 2016's "Sanguine", and wastes no time smashing through the gates on album opener "Juice Cleanse". It's an aggressively explosive track that slows down to a melodic, but still shouty section that defines the ethos of the remainder of the record in a nutshell.

The record successfully blends together pop punk sections with hardcore punk without overflowing into the easycore genre. Sure, there are songs like "The Ides", which sounds like a faster and heavier version of Sum 41, and "Holding Pattern", which resembles Four Year Strong, only in a rawer and more punk rock format.

Those songs are in the stylistic minority, however. Most of the record is spent carving through Lifetime and Shook Ones-inspired melodic hardcore delivered at pedal-to-the-floor tempo throughout. The edges are left razor-sharp and unpolished on purpose in order to ooze a basement-style hardcore show vibe from their record. In fact, "Rebuilding Year" sounds like it was recorded in one take in a live session, complete with the occasional "I liked that one!" yelps at the end of the songs.

Songs like "Moonstones" and "Egg Sucking Dog" deliver brawly anthems in an intense, in-your-face format. They are explosive, yet infectiously catchy simultaneously. The album highlight "Through The Teeth", for instance, presses melodic hardcore hard against the pop punk edge to a breaching point, retaining the passionate delivery of the former while adding in the catchy elements of the latter.

With most songs barely breaching the two-minute mark, you'll know the kind of high-energy onslaught you'll be getting on this record. It sounds like raw punk rock rebellion and spirit, channeled through a hardcore lens.

Download: Through The Teeth, Juice Cleanse, Rebuilding Year, Egg Sucking Dog, Moonstones
For the fans of: Kid Dynamite, Lifetime, Capital, Shook Ones, Former Member, Go Rydell, Four Year Strong
Listen: Facebook

Release date 21.04.2023
Stomp Records