Youth Signals is a ‘moody dream-pop/psych-rock’ outfit based in Brooklyn, and word is that they’ve only played three shows to date. “Foreign Eye” was released on Youth Signals’ debut EP “1997” which was recorded live at Brooklyn studio Seaside Lounge in the summer of 2014 (feels like ages ago now, right?), making this a sort of retrospective mention but still a worthy one.
“Foreign Eye” is an exercise in nostalgia, but instead of bottling itself into one era it pulls from just about every-when possible to create a jangly, timeless, and heavily emotive feel. Lead singer Brock Bodell has an extremely distinctive voice, and this track in particular seems to be built around his insistent timbres; the band seamlessly stops and starts under his utterances (“there’s a crack in the wall / sound is comin’ out”) but again I’m having a difficult time pinpointing any particular influences, which is a compliment in its own right. Usually I’d keep an eye out for how the title of the song plays into the lyrics, but we’ve got an even better clue here; the band name is actually the source of the sound which pours through the crack in the wall (“don’t be scared / it’s only youth signals”), giving a pretty good visual accompaniment (sweaty and tired youth receiving semantic information from bands) to the band name. Okay, if I had to mention a similar band, it’d be (earlier recordings from) Porches. Youth Signals has that EIS nostalgia niche filled nicely, and have captured many if not all of the feels that there are to feel. “Foreign Eye” is a great introduction to Youth Signals, I’d say.
You can check out the rest of the EP on Youth Signals’ bandcamp, and you can go see them on Saturday (1/24) at Pete’s Candy Store.
