REVIEW ROUND-UP: Between You & Me, Filth, Young Medicine

Between You & Me

SH!T YEAH

It should go without saying that, because they arrived at a time when every fledgling pop-punk band was given a shot at stardom and they…weren’t, Between You & Me are effectively also-rans at this stage. The fact they’ve never had a proper identity of their own doesn’t help, nor that so much as a single has persisted in the modern genre canon. So what promise is there from a new EP, released independently and showing that, in the three years since their last album, its creators haven’t learned a thing? When people talk about pop-punk oversaturation, this is what it looks like. Actually, no—this is what it used to look like, because Between You & Me don’t even have the good sense to make their equivalent of loft insulation feel timely.

What we get with SH!T YEAH, then, is an unnecessary ‘throwback’ where you almost hear the gears clanking and whirring to get this stale, old machine moving again. At the very start of the 2020s, this could’ve sounded plausible with the garish colours and guitar grinds batted between being chunky and flatly all-consuming. Throw in the fake record scratches on Kill My Vibe and Nevermind, and the era of pop-punk rolls back a good decade-plus to something even more regrettably plastic. All the while, Between You & Me have nothing of note to do with any of it. They aren’t sharp or transformative; they’re lagging behind without hope of catching up, maybe more than ever.

The one kernel of an idea of its own is an occasional glance at the looser slacker-rock of Between You & Me’s native Australia, but, like…so what? That doesn’t add much, and oftentimes it’s just swallowed up in the pop-punk rigmarole like on Super Good. Superficial catchiness is fine—and it’s the area where SH!T YEAH deserves the most unwavering praise—but it’d be nice to get a balance rather than booting anything marginally distinctive or interesting out. And that’s a bone-deep issue, too, down to a whole host of genre stereotypes that these lyrics see fit to wear. We all know that moving on isn’t your forte, Between You & Me, but exhuming your genre’s reputation for not being the most sensitive around women on a song like Yeah! doesn’t need to happen, with such…charming poetry as “She talks about herself so well, yeah / She’d fuck the mirror if you can’t tell”.

So, yeah, it’s not very good, but it’s the obviousness of that which’ll really make you flare up. Between You & Me are already on the back foot, and with a dearth of ideas or personality or get-up-and-go to even try and do something new, that isn’t going to change with this. It’s the kind of EP they might put out to tease a bold, new era, when all it actually does is reaffirm how little there is to become invested in. That’s always been an impression, but now it’s really hammered in. It’s all just a bit sh!t, yeah?

For fans of: Seaway, Knuckle Puck, Neck Deep

‘SH!T YEAH’ by Between You & Me is released on 5th April.

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Filth

Southern Hostility

As hard as it can be to believe that the band name ‘Filth’ has been up for grabs for this long, when opportunity knocks… Besides, if anyone’s going to take it, it might as well be a bunch of southern deathcore bruisers out to justify it for all it’s worth. Hell, might as well reclaim the album title from the style’s long-disgraced forebears Upon A Burning Body while they’re at it; they aren’t getting much mileage these days. The results are exactly what you’d expect when the baton has changed hands this cleanly—a full-fat, full-force deathcore slam-down with anything nuanced or subtle as the remotest of afterthoughts.

Suffice to say, Southern Hostility is fairly single-minded. Any exploration is confined to elements of southern hip-hop that crop up on Stay Gutter or Chin Check, and maybe a Korn-ish clean vocal tone on Play Dead. Otherwise, the beating is pronounced and painstaking, all the more so thanks to Dustin Mitchell’s consistent aggro stance. He would maul you if given the chance, if much of this album is anything to go off. It probably wouldn’t even be the most painful part of the ordeal either, seeing as the seismic bass and riffs dropped to the centre of the earth have their own deliberate axes to grind with the idea of humanity.

And that’s about all you need to know, really. It’s deathcore for the already-converted gluttons who can’t get enough of the stuff, and Filth are willing to oblige. To that end, then, Southern Hostility is a bit of a limited listen. Pace has a lot to do with that, in the constant anvil-drops that seldom seem to change or hint towards the potential of more. It’s about as fit for purpose as deathcore comes, and deliberately so, at that. The whole point is emulating the tar-black violence of a distinctly southern-flavoured beatdown, which Filth have no qualms with sticking to. They’re incredibly solid at what they do, even when the range is this narrow.

There’s definitely still a place for that, too, though maybe not at the very top table. Filth give off the vibe of a band still finding their feet, throwing down as hard as they can to brute-force an impression. They probably get further at that than most who try, in all honesty; there’s something to be said for music that’s so consummate in its bulk that that’s all it needs. Don’t anticipate a nutritious, long-lasting listen; do anticipate a battering that mightn’t get topped by another debut for a minute.

For fans of: Upon A Burning Body, Bodysnatcher, Bound In Fear

‘Southern Hostility’ by Filth is released on 5th April.

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Young Medicine

Coldblooded

If there were ever a moment to feel as though alt-metal is getting its act together, it may be this. Young Medicine have attached themselves to infusing the genre with synthwave, for their sins, but try not to confuse that with another gallumphing Bad Omens ripoff you’ll forget roughly an attosecond after hearing them. There might actually be something to this, or at least something bearing a hint of potential. It’s a start, anyway; at least in the rough approximation of something new or identifiable on Coldblooded, there’s more than just hollow lip service paid.

The designation ‘alt-metal-meets-synthwave’ isn’t nearly as harrowing as it might imply, anyway. Rather than another layer of clunk dropped on, it more refers to the specific synth tones and atmospheres, which are far more manageable. Maybe the comparison to The X-Files’ theme for opener UFO Party leaves it shriveling next to Mark Snow’s iconic composition, but you can at least see where they’re coming from. The genealogy is more cleanly mapped than with most, to where going full synthwave ballad on At The End Of Everything—fully imbued with the genre’s glowier, shimmering end—is far from a horrendous slam of the brakes. It’s actually a rather refreshing turn, with Bret Liber’s fluid vocal delivery as a big contributor to an overall size that’s well-maintained and utilised.

What’s even more surprising is how Young Medicine are able to keep it up. Even though it’s a little long and unwieldy (par for the course for both composite styles, then), Coldblooded is rarely strapped for something to do. There’s a number of noteworthy ideas, even, from Winter Solider and its vocal progressions holding more than a shade of In The Air Tonight, to some legitimately good melodramatic swell on Parasocial. They’re steps in the right direction, no doubt about it, to where even the legally-mandated threads of saxophone on Hold On To Anything and A Lesson In Futility aren’t as tired as they very well can be. See?—a reshuffle of assets can do the job, even if that’s just opening things out and letting a fresher form take shape.

Besides, you don’t automatically lose the crowd’s appeal from that. The parts are similar enough to get them through the door, and with more inside to work with, it’s considerably more gratifying. And sometimes, when you’re dealing with a massively homogenised scene, that can be enough. Young Medicine certainly work it that way, and the good stuff on Coldblooded is much easier to come by. Honestly, if more of a vested effort were put behind giving these guys some runway, it’d be significantly more preferable than most of what’s getting cranked out. There’s more to like here than with plenty of those chancers put together.

For fans of: Bad Omens, Dayseeker, Ice Nine Kills

‘Coldblooded’ by Young Medicine is released on 5th April on FIXT Music.

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Words by Luke Nuttall