HURRAH! ANOTHER YEAR, SURELY THIS ONE WILL BE BETTER THAN THE LAST; THE INEXORABLE MARCH OF PROGRESS WILL LEAD US ALL TO HAPPINESS

Youthmovies have been one of my recent discoveries that I just can't stop listening to. These guys are making one of the most interesting and intense form of progressive rock in these resent years by mixing the complexity of math rock, the emotion and atmospheres of post-rock and the accessibility and ear-friendliness of alternative rock.

On this album all of the said genres are mixed, twisted and smashed together to form a style and a sound all of their own. While the title of the album is quite long (it's certainly the longest title I've ever seen) the music here is rather short (after all, this is a mini-album), but every minute is jam-packed with music. The combination of an easy listening genre with a not-so-accessible one leads to a frantic and chaotic listening, but one of the great things about them is, actually, that strange contrast in their sound. One minute you're trying to count how many times they change time signatures and in the next you'll be singing along to Andrew Mears' vocals (which sound not to far from Matt Bellamy from Muse). A perfect example of this can be heard in the song "A Little Late He Staggered Through the Door and Into Her Eyes". The post-rock bits are also very enjoyable and give the music some well needed emotional weight to it along with the vocals. These guys even throw in a jazz freak out in one of their songs that will make any rock fan headbang to the sound of a saxophone like never before!

All of these guys are great at playing their instruments. They know when to go complex for the sake of being complex and also know when to make some great emotional moments (and they manage to fit these two characteristics in all of their songs). This is, in my opinion, a prime example on the perfect balance between complexity and emotion and also THE prime example of modern progressive rock in the same vein as Oceansize, Pure Reason Revolution, Dredg, Mew, Amplifier, Muse and the likes.

If you're a fan of those previously mentioned bands, but feel that they aren't complex enough or that they're simply too alternative for your taste then I highly recommend Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies. You won't be disappointed.

YMS are a math-rock band. By saying this, I mean they’re less keen on melodies and more occupied with complex signatures and shifting moods. There are some wonderful places (like coda in “A Little Late”) that are easy to whistle along, but there are also wild tracks like “Recovery Speak” (insane Zorn-like beginning and almost post-rocky down-tempo coda). Comparable to late OCEANSIZE, early DREDG and early THE MARS VOLTA, YMS nevertheless follow their own path. It’s a hard fish to swallow, but it’s worthy of it. I would hardly call this album favourite, but it has its moments, and some of them are extremely wonderful. Recommended for math-rockers and Modern proggers, a desirable addition to your collections!