Stereogum » Young Widows

The Best 10 Videos Of The Week

jessica — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:33:36 +0000

These week we’ve got new videos from TV On The Radio, Cool Kids, Manchester Orchestra, Parts & Labor, and the New York Dolls, among many others. I put the Def Sound and Parts & Labor videos together because they use the same editing technique (doing full takes and stitching them together) to create a sort of stop motion animation. Also note that director Jeremy Johnstone is here twice this week, directing very different clips for New York Dolls and Young Widows.

Young Widows – “Future Heart” Video

brandon — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:08:52 +0000

Our first taste of Louisville noise-rock trio Young Widow’s game-changing In And Out Of Youth And Lightness came via “Future Heart,” one of the album’s more straightforward, streamlined old-school ass-kickers. The song’s Jeremy Johnstone-directed video, on the other hand, is anything but uncomplicated. I’d say it’s NSFW, but it’s unclear if sewing together raw meat’s something that offends Human Resources.

Young Widows – “In And Out Of Lightness”

brandon — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:08:13 +0000

Louisville noise-rock trio Young Widows‘ In And Out Of Youth And Lightness hasn’t left regular rotation since we posted “Future Heart” in mid-January. The album, which they co-produced with My Morning Jacket associated Kevin Ratterman, is more atmospheric, imploded, and darkly bluesy than their past recordings — it features unexpected instrumentation, bold arrangements. See, for instance, the smoky, tense, and ballsy 6-plus minute “In And Out Of Lightness.”

Young Widows – “Future Heart” (Stereogum Premiere)

brandon — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:46:02 +0000

It could be this morning’s KEN mode and Trap Them listening sessions talking, but pair those knockout efforts with bluesy, sludgy Louisville trio Young Widows‘ In and Out of Youth and Lightness and it feels like 2011′s going to be a good year for various shades of noise rock (or old-man punk or post-noise rock or noisecore or…). For their part, Young Widows are following up 2008′s Old Wounds with a batch of their darkest, most expansive material. The nine tracks were recorded in a funeral home in their hometown and co-produced with Kevin Ratterman (known for his work with My Morning Jacket). Not sure if it’s Ratterman’s doing, but there’s a smokier, more patient, painterly, and atmospheric sound created with unexpected pacing, instrumentation, and vocal arrangements. Sometimes it’s straight-up gentle, making the eventual explosions feel huge. The aesthetic shift would work well on the same stage — or another split 7″ — with labelmates, neighbors, and pals Coliseum. You’ll get a sense of this with the swaggering “Future Heart,” though the album’s best experienced as one dynamic arc.

SXSW 2009: Wednesday In Photos

brandon — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:22:28 +0000

SXSW 2009 opened with a bit of bad luck turned good: It was too foggy for our flight to land in Houston, so they re-routed us directly to Austin, cutting out the layover, etc. Not all the passengers were happy, but the 50-something of us who listed Austin as final destination arrived in the sunny, breezy, much-warmer-than-NY city an hour ahead of our projected schedule. They even found our luggage. We didn’t always have such great luck with our first batch of SXSW music.

New Young Widows Video – “Old Skin” (Stereogum Premiere)

brandon — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:43:05 +0000

Young Widows’ dramatically-lit J.J. Johnstone-directed video for “Old Skin” turns a fairly straightforward performance of the track into subtly ominous theater. The song’s from the Louisville trio’s second album Old Wounds. The repetition of “old”s — countering the “young” in the band’s name — makes sense. Young Widows aren’t necessarily reinventing the wheel, but for folks who enjoy the muscularity of Jesus Lizard or Fugazi’s post-hardcore starts and stops, this ought to do the trick … in under two minutes. Keep your eyes peeled for the subliminal Old Wounds masks.