Bearded Youth Quest
It’s not often that I’ll draw words straight from a bands page, but in the case of Bearded Youth Quest, I couldn’t resist it. According to their page, their formation was along the lines of the following:
‘This is the story of how the Bearded Youth came into being, and of their very first quest together. And what a quest it was – involving super amplified strum boxes, some rhythmic witchcraft, a jaunt through Caballero cave – and a desperate chemical fuelled harp battle! The youths pluck and resourcefulness stimulated each others thirst for adventure and made possible many more exciting expeditions for this group of intrepid sonic explorers’.
Now, I’ve no idea what they’re on about, so am just going to check out their self titled 5 track album to let the music do the talking for them!
Opening with Puzzle Dungeon there’s an immediate transportation to a place of calm and cool, the over all feeling of an acoustic vibe taking over and luring you into the world of the Bearded Youth Quest. This soft and serene feeling continues through the track, yet becomes accompanied by a syncopated approach to music, adding in a sense of complexity and progression which can often be lost in calmer music. The progression of the track seems to grow as it moves through, the feeling increasing in intensity and a more frantic approach coming forth towards the final moments of the track. Closing in an almost Dream Theater style, this is a track which has all of the key ingredients yet will surprise at every given turn, a definite mind bender of a track to open things, but it works!
South Parade Pier Pressure comes up next and continues the calmed down vibe, this time adding in an almost ska style beat to elevate things even further. The soft and ‘plinky-plonky’ backing music only serves to accentuate the increasing tempo of the lead guitar lines and roving bass rhythms which dominate this track, leaving you with a mix that’s both calming and funky at the same time. The ending of this track differs from the previous, as this time everything seems to build up to an atmospheric calm, taking on a sense of progressive melodic rock, without the heavy distortion that you might expect. U=Nobody follows on and returns us to the syncopated and out there approach of the earlier moments of this album, once again creating a sound which at first seems chaotic, yet soon forms around you. Despite the syncopated nature of this track, the over all melody behind it is once again the driving force, leaving you simply listening to ensure you hear everything that’s going on, it’s one of those tracks where you don’t want to miss a single moment.
Stone Hench is a highpoint on the album in my opinion, opening with the calm and reflective notes of before and once again reminding us that music like this is designed to simply allow you to kick back and listen to it. The roving guitar line which jumps around on top the mix adds further interest to things, making you follow it and wonder where it is going to go next and how they’re going to keep up this style of music. Keep it up they do though, and album closer Syntaxidermy closes the album in style. Once again demonstrating that these guys aren’t content with a simple beat or chord progression, the final moments of this album are perhaps the most chaotic, yet once again there seems to be calm within the chaos, leaving you with no doubt that this is an album that is going to live in your memory for a long long time. As it comes to a close, my one thought is this – how on earth did I manage to listen to an entire 5 track album without noticing there were no vocals!?
Bearded Youth Quest have managed to adopt a style which personally, I can’t put into a pigeon hole or genre – it’s too varied to be labelled in one particular way. This varied approach and careful styling is what makes this EP so appealing though, as it presents us with twists and turns that most bands simply would never consider adding in. More than just music, this is a story, and even without words you can hear the story being told through the music throughout the album. Personally, I think people need to hear this just to try and understand it, one which I certainly recommend!
To find out more about Bearded Youth Quest, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls.
‘This is the story of how the Bearded Youth came into being, and of their very first quest together. And what a quest it was – involving super amplified strum boxes, some rhythmic witchcraft, a jaunt through Caballero cave – and a desperate chemical fuelled harp battle! The youths pluck and resourcefulness stimulated each others thirst for adventure and made possible many more exciting expeditions for this group of intrepid sonic explorers’.
Now, I’ve no idea what they’re on about, so am just going to check out their self titled 5 track album to let the music do the talking for them!
Opening with Puzzle Dungeon there’s an immediate transportation to a place of calm and cool, the over all feeling of an acoustic vibe taking over and luring you into the world of the Bearded Youth Quest. This soft and serene feeling continues through the track, yet becomes accompanied by a syncopated approach to music, adding in a sense of complexity and progression which can often be lost in calmer music. The progression of the track seems to grow as it moves through, the feeling increasing in intensity and a more frantic approach coming forth towards the final moments of the track. Closing in an almost Dream Theater style, this is a track which has all of the key ingredients yet will surprise at every given turn, a definite mind bender of a track to open things, but it works!
South Parade Pier Pressure comes up next and continues the calmed down vibe, this time adding in an almost ska style beat to elevate things even further. The soft and ‘plinky-plonky’ backing music only serves to accentuate the increasing tempo of the lead guitar lines and roving bass rhythms which dominate this track, leaving you with a mix that’s both calming and funky at the same time. The ending of this track differs from the previous, as this time everything seems to build up to an atmospheric calm, taking on a sense of progressive melodic rock, without the heavy distortion that you might expect. U=Nobody follows on and returns us to the syncopated and out there approach of the earlier moments of this album, once again creating a sound which at first seems chaotic, yet soon forms around you. Despite the syncopated nature of this track, the over all melody behind it is once again the driving force, leaving you simply listening to ensure you hear everything that’s going on, it’s one of those tracks where you don’t want to miss a single moment.
Stone Hench is a highpoint on the album in my opinion, opening with the calm and reflective notes of before and once again reminding us that music like this is designed to simply allow you to kick back and listen to it. The roving guitar line which jumps around on top the mix adds further interest to things, making you follow it and wonder where it is going to go next and how they’re going to keep up this style of music. Keep it up they do though, and album closer Syntaxidermy closes the album in style. Once again demonstrating that these guys aren’t content with a simple beat or chord progression, the final moments of this album are perhaps the most chaotic, yet once again there seems to be calm within the chaos, leaving you with no doubt that this is an album that is going to live in your memory for a long long time. As it comes to a close, my one thought is this – how on earth did I manage to listen to an entire 5 track album without noticing there were no vocals!?
Bearded Youth Quest have managed to adopt a style which personally, I can’t put into a pigeon hole or genre – it’s too varied to be labelled in one particular way. This varied approach and careful styling is what makes this EP so appealing though, as it presents us with twists and turns that most bands simply would never consider adding in. More than just music, this is a story, and even without words you can hear the story being told through the music throughout the album. Personally, I think people need to hear this just to try and understand it, one which I certainly recommend!
To find out more about Bearded Youth Quest, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls.