Youth Rescue Mission

To be upfront and honest, I am friends with the members of Youth Rescue Mission. Because of this, I was a bit hesitant to write about their record. I was struggling with the idea of how to avoid faint praise or needless jabs to avoid sounding biased. I also know that it can be difficult to separate friendship and fandom. In order to combat these potential pratfalls in this regard, I’ve decided that the best way to provide an overview of this album is to use analogous writing. So, I’ll do my best to try and make my summation of the album relatable via this tact.

I think the best way to think about Youth Rescue Missions self-titled debut is to think about a shirt you’ve owned for a prolonged period of time. Not just any shirt, but one that gets frequent wearings.

With this album, the first thing many will be drawn to are the beautifully executed harmonies. Think of this as the graphic of the previously mentioned shirt. The instant aesthetic gratification of perfectly executed harmonization is enough to draw you in. It provides a comfort through warmth, but also something pretty to show off. You want to tell all your friends about it, wear it out in public, and bask in the complements of your new find. However, like all things initially pleasing in an aesthetic sense, it runs the risk of fading- losing appeal through repeated wear.

Thankfully, Youth Rescue Mission is able to ward off the risk of becoming fodder of a fad. There is enough nuance in these songs that will make themselves apparent through further listens. Little ticks such as a brief banjo line. Or a twinkling of keys that don’t repeat. A movement by the vocals low in the mix, something you hear, but isn’t forced on you.

One of the ways this is also addressed is by way of track listing. The album begins with an introduction track, which is a nice way of drawing in initial interest, but not giving away much, if anything, about what you’re about to experience. Then Problem Solver starts in. The track is jaunty and a bit nervous. After this, the album mellows out from Floorplan through Very Nice Things, then we get another blast of uptempo nerves with Stumblin’ Man.

On first listen, I felt that these tracks felt disjointed and fractured with the rest of the album. I was struggling to see how they belonged with the smooth, vocal driven tracks. I enjoyed Daniel’s songs on their own, but was having difficulty with understanding their place within the context of the album.

I started to go back to the analogy of an old shirt. Thinking of Daniel’s songs as an odd seam on the cuff of a sleeve. Something that inspector 33 failed to notice. But after repeated wearings, it develops charm. It becomes an identifying factor. Something that keeps things interesting because of the break from the norm.

I’ve spent a lot of time with this record at this point, and much like a shirt that makes it’s way into frequent wardrobe rotation, it is a source of comfort. It’s found a way to stick around even after the initial draw has become less of a focus. Everything has it’s place, each song belong to the others.

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