National Underground

Young Livers was a band I came across a few years ago and completely fell in love with. Their MySpace “Sounds Like” section read “thrash at rock tempo” for years and it’s just about dead on. If you need to get all nerdy with terms…maybe it’s this groove heavy, dark, scream-laden, metallic rock with post-punk sensibilities chock full of starts, stops and rhythm changes. Above and beyond all the clever term crafting, it just grabbed me right away, which is to say that even a jaded old punk rocker like myself could find something fresh and new in this quartet of 20-somethings. It’s funny that I always thought they sounded sort of like Glass & Ashes…only later to find out they had in fact shared a member in guitarist Dave Hall.

Their first EP didn’t exactly make waves, but their first full-length on No Idea Records’ The New Drop Era was a breath of fresh air in the Gainesville, FL music scene. Young Livers had quickly made a name and a unique sound for themselves, both of which are harder to do than most people would imagine. But, the final twist came after Glass & Ashes disbanded when bassist/vocalist Michael Carter became a commuting member of Young Livers, flying in from California whenever YL gets together. So for the past two years, the evidence of Michael Carter’s influence on the band has been trickling out via live performances and 7″ splits. The band’s natural progression was accelerated with more layers of vocal opportunity, a heavier, more dynamic low end and another collaborator into the song writing process.

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