Youth Lagoon, Year of Hibernation
First thought is, yeesh, that Youth Lagoon album cover is pure shit. Anyhoo, moving along, Atlas Sound is the side project of Bradford Cox, lead singer of Deerhunter. You may have noticed in an earlier review that another band in this competition is the side project of the lead guitarist of Deerhunter. These two guys pump out a lot of music.
In Parallax, Bradford Cox gets a bit more experimental and less pop-oriented than in the Deerhunter albums. The result is an album that jumps back and forth between indie guitar-driven songs and ambient music. Sometimes the jump between the two is sudden. One of the better songs is the following:
"Te Amo"
Year of Hibernation is Youth Lagoon's first album. Basically, the album is a bunch of dream-pop by this kid from Idaho named Trevor Powers who was suffering a breakup. According to allmusic.com, the album also reflects his problem with chronic anxiety. This was my favorite song:
"Daydream"
My guess coming into this matchup was that I would go with Bradford Cox, since he's the lead singer on one of my favorite bands. Surprised myself once again. This Youth Lagoon album is a really good one. It's confessional without being too emotionally raw like Perfume Genius. Despite his suffering, Trevor Powers creates a beautiful album--one that is more lush and imaginative than typical first albums.
Youth Lagoon advances to the quarterfinals.
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