I was assigned to review a record by YOUTH AVOIDERS forever ago and I recall needing repeated listens to fully wrap my head around what they were doing. It was never a matter of whether or not I liked it, it was trying to figure out where they were coming from and what their intentions were.....and honestly I'm still not sure. From a foundation of consistently driving and intentionally repetitious punk very much along the lines of LES THUGS and/or LA FRACTION, YOUTH AVOIDERS add a melody that owes more to OBSERVERS than their country-folk, there's the (almost) Deathreat Davis vocals...and there's something extra infectious about the clean guitar that pierces through the mix. There's a world where someone might hear these sounds a couple of times and think "Oh cool, I've heard shit like this before" and move along. I get it - and I admit that I was dangerously close to doing the same thing myself but something kept drawing me in and demanding that I pay closer attention. Listen to that something, because it's here. YOUTH AVOIDERS have the indefinable something that allows them to morph punk music that you understand and recognize into punk music that you feel. 2018's Relentless was their final release (I believe), and it capped an almost decade long string of recordings that deserve a place on a very short list.
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