Review Summary: A huge amount of potential showing on the debut EP of a screamo band still lacking creativity in their lyrical output
Rising from the Ann Arbor, MI emo scene, Youth Novel is a screamo band with a melodic twist in their music and their debut EP,
Turned Around Abruptly Beside a Mirror and Jumped at My Own Reflection, is just as devastating as its title suggests. Clocking in at just over 10 minutes, the EP manages to scream an incredible amount of emotional lyrical output. The lyrics deal with typical emo themes, centering around self-pity, depression and love that cannot be, but the desperation heard in the lead singer’s voice makes it more credible than you’d probably think. Lines like “I only want to follow behind you/then I can be all that I want to” may not be the most original but they do their job well at expressing the depressing emotions felt on the album.
However, what makes this tiny EP something worthwhile is not necessarily the lyrics, but what it musically provides. The double vocals of Sean Horner and John Dickinson undoubtedly borrow a lot from the likes of
Off Minor but are used extremely well throughout the EP. Backing up the vocals are the loud, intriguing patterns using drums and melodic guitars. Despite the abrasive vocal style, the EP comes up surprisingly mellow, thanks to the undistorted guitar sound and the melodies used especially in the instrumental sections. “Mellow” is a pretty relative word in this case since the shamelessly lo-fi production gives the EP an overall sound that is definitely anything but accessible or lenient.
Despite being divided into four tracks,
Turned Around Abruptly Beside a Mirror and Jumped at My Own Reflection can and probably should be seen as a one 10-minute song, giving that the tracks have no names. Of course, all the tracks are individually recognizable, “III” and “IV” being especially memorable in musical terms, but the EP is definitely meant to be heard in full. The concept behind it isn’t really anything ground-breaking but for the certain, melancholic mood it’s a lot more than just passable. Youth Novel’s debut EP shows a lot of potential the four-piece screamo band has and stands as a great emotional manifestation.
