The Danish Post-Punk quartet that are back to make a man out of you! New post time.

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A good afternoon to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time – yet again – for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! One of the year’s early album releases that seems to have been slept on was “Ongoing Dispute” by Yung, a 4-piece Danish Post-Punk Revival group who have been away for five years. Their debut album, “A Youthful Dream” was released in 2015, and the group were simply not proud of that release when it was all said and done, and so they decided to go back to the drawing board for the follow-up LP, which saw the light of day last month on Fat Possum Records, and PNKSLM Recordings internationally. Led by 21-year-old Mikkel Holm Silkjaer, Yung were formed in Aarhus following his decade-long experience in local Post-Rock groups like Cola Freaks and Urban Achievers. He’s also ran the Shordwood and 100 Records labels. Check out the single “Such A Man” below.

“Such A Man” was inspired by “A recent personal experience” for Silkjaer, which “sparked a train of reflection on manhood”, for the lead vocalist, who noted in the single’s press notes “Growing up, masculinity was portrayed to me as something very one-sided. The experience referenced in the lyrics helped me realise a pattern in coping with loss and pain in the archetypal man. I think from a subconscious point of view, I needed to address that in order to fully re-evaluate my childhood image of manliness”, speaking on the ways that it fueled the writing process of the track. Instead of going for a quiet and pastoral observation of masculinity, this is a track with a high-speed momentum, and it has it’s feet firmly on the ground of 80’s indie releases. Weirdly, the psyched-up guitars and the straight-ahead Pop influence reminds me of The Cure. The direction is pretty informed sonically, with vocals like “His face is scarred by shame” and “He forgot his keys in the morning/And all the doors in that city are locked” feeling vague and open to a little interpretation. Meanwhile, the drums keeps the time signature rolling along pretty quickly, with a Cymbal crash following the Jangle-driven chorus that feels intentionally out of place, and allows for a breather after the Power-Pop driven hooks of the chorus, where Silkjaer chants: “Self-inflicted wound/Oh, you’re such a Man” over the top of a piercing bass guitar riff and an atmospheric lead guitar chime that adds an electronic stab of production. Lines like “He brings to mind the second amendment” feel intriguing due to the lack of an obvious context being implied, but the chorus is more power-driven and fast-paced, creating a hook that feels pretty catchy, and fit for a decent chant along at a live gig, in the process. This one gets a thumbs up from me, and that’s because it manages to provide more questions than answers for me, and it makes me want to find out where the band are going with the 80’s-influenced sound, with a somewhat mundane observation on living as a bloke in 2020 that is given a punchy uplift by the electric guitar work and the emphasis on the Power-Pop chorus. It also feels a little rare for a band to discuss the themes of manhood in the current day, so it captures my attention. A solid, full-throttle ride into the roots of Post-Punk.

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That’s enough of me rambling on for another day! I’ll be back for more discussion tomorrow, however, as we take a deep dive into one of the year’s most highly anticipated new album releases so far tomorrow for our “New Album Release Fridays” pick. Known for their lengthy guitar-based sequences found within their production, this Glasweigan Post-Rock band have recorded seven John Peel sessions in the past, and the 4-piece are set to drop their latest long-player effort on the same release date of their debut single, “Tuner/Lower”, from 25 years ago, tomorrow. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/