Album Review: No Slow TempOs by Youth On Drugs

It seems a little while since I featured a band from Canada on CPRW. Today we’re reviewing Hamilton, Ontario’s Youth On Drugs. The pop punk act released their first full length album in April. Titled No Slow TempOs, the album features fourteen songs with only two being over two minutes in length. Completely my kind of thing. Fast and fun pop punk music.

The album begins with The Youth On Drugs Officially Licensed Theme Song. This serves as an introduction of what to expect from Youth On Drugs. It builds up with guitar, bass, drums and synth before some gang vocals come in proclaiming “we are the Youth On Drugs, we don’t give any fucks.” It’s really simplistic and a bit silly but I honestly couldn’t care less as it’s a lot of fun and got me pumped for what more is to come from the album. The second track is titled Life Always Works Out… Usually. The song starts out, unsurprisingly (given the album’s title), in an up tempo manner. The song is about trying to get by in life despite the hurdles that get placed in your way. The drums really drive the song forward, giving it a powerful back beat with the rest of the instruments giving the song a chaotic edge which I thought was great. The final gang vocals of “I can’t afford to live here anymore” give the track some urgency and help you care about what the band are saying. I think Home Throne is a song about how your toilet is the only one that you want to use. Obviously this is a silly subject but it did make me smile. This is the sort of song that you’ll find yourself singing drunkenly with your pals at a party.

Doug Ford Is The Worst Drug Dealer I’ve Ever Had is the fourth song on the album. There’s a more aggressive nature to this song so I’m guessing Doug Ford really isn’t popular with the guys in Youth On Drugs. The song has a stop-start style in its beginning before reaching a more melodic chorus that’s crying out to be sung along too. Next is Not Over You which is a song about not being over a person you were in a relationship with. Again, this is a simple but fun song that will quickly find a place in your head. The use of gang vocals and harmonies really gives the song a fuller sound that really helps with getting people to want to shout along with Youth On Drugs. It’s also one of the more relatable songs on the album as everyone has been in a relationship that’s ended before they were ready for it to end. Dumb Brain is one of the tracks that is longer than two minutes long. This allows for a longer introduction with each instrument slowly coming in before the vocals begin. I like how this shows a bit of a different side of Youth On Drugs and allows some musicianship to shine through. Dumb Brain is about the frustration of feeling like you can’t do anything right, I’m sure we’ve all been there, and blaming it on yourself. I’ll Never Fall In Love brings us to the halfway point of the album. It’s a high energy song that got me pumped and ready for a fun time. The track is about being in a bad relationship and wanting to get out of it. So it’s quite a sad song but it’s also a great time. If I were in charge of PR for the band then this would have been one of the songs I would have picked to be a single before the album’s release.

The second half of No Slow TempOs begins with Just Not Good (For Each Other). Getting off to a rambunctious start, it’s the drums that drives the song forward along with providing a strong spine for the rest of the band to play off. The synth in particular feels playful on the track. The track itself is about realising that your relationship brings out the worst in you and your partner and you’d be better off separated. During the second half of the song the vocals become more intense and desperate, adding a great extra element to the track. Season’s Greetings is a twenty five second song that finishes as quickly as it starts. It’s a bit nonsensical but keeps the energy of the album going strongly. Do You Wanna Start A Band? is one of the more conventional pop punk tracks. The vocals really remind me of Matt Hart of Squirtgun which I loved. The song has a longer intro compared to the majority of Youth In Drugs songs and has a very upbeat feeling to it. I loved how the tempo increases as the song goes on and by the final couple of lines even the singer feels as if they’re getting out of breath. The song is about starting a band with your friends and thinking about how much fun it could be. There’s an innocence to this song that hasn’t really featured throughout the album and it enables a fresher feeling. Babe Bus Driver was released as a single by the band before the album’s release. This is a frantic song that doesn’t let up at all. Obviously this is a song about a bus driver that the band find attractive. Musically this feels like one of the most aggressive songs on the album and at times it feels as if they instruments drown out the vocals slightly. I imagine this is a fun song to see played live because of its frantic style. It’s only one minute and thirteen seconds long but I imagine I’ll need a sit down after seeing it live.

No Use To You is a sadder song about feeling like you’re not good enough. Despite the sad theme of the song it’s got an upbeat sound that encourages shouting along. It’s a song I’m sure people will relate to so hopefully they could find some form in catharsis in the song. I’m a big fan of songs that cover a topic that isn’t positive and turn it into a bit of anthem. The penultimate track is the brilliant I Wanna Be An Alien. Featuring some incredibly catchy lyrics, harmonies and some great gang vocals, this song was another big favourite of mine. The track is about – you guessed it – wanting to be an alien. In particular it’s about wanting to escape from the place you’re in and getting lost somewhere else. I can see a really silly music video being made for this track complete with a green screen, inflatable alien and a cardboard rocket ship. If Youth On Drugs are reading this and make this video I promise to make it our Video Of The Week. Please make it. The final song on No Slow TempOs is titled Not Yourself. I bang on a lot about albums ending with big epic songs and I have to admit that I didn’t really expect it from Youth On Drugs. I was extremely wrong and they really delivered. The track begins with a repetitive “no you’re not yourself, no you’re not” that I couldn’t help but sing along with before the verse comes in. The song is about trying to cover up the things that are wrong with you when it’s clear to your friends that you’re not doing okay. It’s always important to talk about mental health so I loved that Youth On Drugs decided to tackle the subject. It’s another extremely cathartic song and one that I really hope to enjoy live one day.

I really enjoyed No Slow TempOs. I love fast and fun pop punk music that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Youth On Drugs seems to be quite a new band on the scene and I will certainly be keeping a keen eye on their development. They remind me slightly of Pkew Pkew Pkew and they’ve done alright for themselves. Hopefully Youth On Drugs can find similar success.

Stream and download No Slow TempOs on Bandcamp here.

Like Youth On Drugs on Facebook here.

This review was written by Colin Clark.