Gang Of Youths The Positions

Gang of Youths’ debut album is quite literally a matter of life and death. Penned by vocalist/guitarist David Le’aupepe in part to cope with the cancer diagnosis of his then wife, the situation was complicated by the fact their relationship would soon crumble. His former partner’s illness casts a long shadow over the album—witness the haunting piano ballad “Knuckles White Dry” (“Coughing up blood is the worst-case scenario/I promise you won’t die, I swear…”). Epic closer “The Overpass”, meanwhile, uses the red and white tail-lights passing the couple in Harlem one evening as a metaphor for the blood cells coursing through her veins. The emotional toll of it all comes to a head in “Magnolia”, which catalogues the day Le’aupepe intended to throw himself in front of a train, only to be intercepted by police (“Hold on, officer, I know that I’m a danger to myself”). Ironically, it’s the album’s poppiest song. A record with such personal, deeply emotional themes demands an appropriately grand musical canvas and the Sydney band obliges, expertly teasing six of the songs past the six-minute mark. Slow-building opener “Vital Signs” channels The E Street Band’s command of dynamics while building to a rousing climax; the coda of “The Diving Bell” recalls Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”. The seven-minute-plus “Sjamboksa” would be at home in The Killers’ repertoire, while “Poison Drum” pairs an indie-rock stomp with the arena-filling nous of Kings of Leon. A staggeringly emotional and accomplished debut.