Music Review: Youth Decay, The Party’s Over

By Tyler Hodg

Vancouver punk rock band Youth Decay can officially say that they have a solid debut album under their belt. A follow-up to their 2014 EP Older Fatter Drunker, The Party’s Over has a comfortable, mature sound that knows what it wants to be: extremely energetic and in-your-face. A project the band members started for fun, Youth Decay has now become something seriously worth-while.

To some on the outside, Youth Decay might just be a one-dimensional rock band—that couldn’t be any less true. The group has incorporated many different styles of music into their songs, and it’s incredible that they can all work in unison. Tracks like “Balance,” “Ash Blonde,” and “Living In My Head” are similar to early 2000s pop-punk songs, but with a slight edge, while both “Slow Clap” and “Pot vs. Kettle” perfectly sync new-southern and thrash-metal riffs to create a truly original sound.

But don’t expect to find a lot of slow songs on The Party’s Over. In fact, the only track to fit that description would be the title song. “The Party’s Over” is an interesting composition, as it’s fairly bare bones, with vocals and distorted guitar being the main instruments throughout most of the song. The full band comes in towards the end for an explosive finish, giving the slow-burn song a glorious payoff.

Like all great punk rock bands, Youth Decay’s choruses are singable to the max. And it’s almost as if there is a phantom choir of dirty concert-goers on the recording, singing so loud that they wouldn’t even able to tell everyone about how great the show was the next day. There isn’t a single track that doesn’t have the ability to become one massive sing-along.

It is a great treat seeing a band continue the punk rock genre, but not rehashing the same tired themes and sounds. Youth Decay is far superior to a lot of their cliche peers, which is an impressive feat considering this is their debut album as a band. Their ability to create original music that stays true to what people love about the genre they are lumped into is what sets them apart. Youth Decay’s The Party’s Over is a gem, simple as that.

The Party’s Over will be released by New Damage Records on November 6.