WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

Most new bands today are faced with the difficulty in establishing their name and identity, and most ways in doing such often involve an excruciating "Hi we're from ____, we like ____, this is Dave on drums". Not for World Unite! Lucifer Youth Foundation, though, who have been a little bit eccentric in their quest to stardom: their Facebook manager is 'War God', they self-produced this record in a church and it took a while for even the band members' names to filter through. Whether this was all a gimmick or not, it's worked, and they find themselves with some rather weighty support.

So, pointer #1 for the uniquity column? Well there's Ellery Roberts' voice. Somewhere inbetween MGMT-modern psychedelia and Bruce Springsteen, it takes a while to adjust to. Must kill his throat though, poor guy. From start to finish the roar-pop is a little bit manic, but behind all of that there're bounteous sublime moments. Opener 'L Y F' combines some steel drums with a church organ for a cacophony of summery sounds, and it all feels surprisingly stadium-bound. Shoegaze'o'clock on 'Cave Song', it sounds like The Cure's "Lovesong" covered by the Gaslight Anthem... doesn't quite work for me.


It's a rare miss, though. 'Such A Sad Puppy Dog' is a serene organ meditation that launches into solemn march-drums and desperate vocals - by the end it'll be a miracle if the puppy dog hasn't topped himself. So 'Summas Bliss' comes as a bit of a sunbathing-in-the-Caribbean experience, but the drums from Joe Manning restrain it from getting too comfortable. For me the apex of the album is 'We Bros', all cymbals and generic-indie-pop that somehow sounds fresh: whether that's something in the production remains to be seen, but there's something Empire of the Sun about the track (a simile I use often for "really bloody good").

There's then a bit of repeat-for-effect about 'Spitting Blood'. All primal energy and obvious graphic imagery, it's difficult to ignore in amongst some of their more innocent offerings. The kick-drums on 'Dirt' make it one of the catchiest tracks, and the vocals are pointedly more decipherable here - indeed the unintelligible nature of the majority of the lyrics is another setback. It's difficult to really describe or relate tracks like 'Concrete Gold' to any preexisting notion of music you already have, as hard as Pitchfork or NME will try with silly metaphors and vague assertions - so I'll say it's quite bloody good. At times it does feel like the hype here is unjustifiable; the band are frustratingly unwilling to bend to conventions and that can, in itself, smack of wannabe-rebellion (see: Odd Future).

But with the final two tracks there is a little glimpse of the band putting down the smoke and mirrors act and just revelling in their own niche. '14 Crowns For Me & Your Friends' is gorgeously accented and has some life-affirming riffs in there that're easy to get immersed in, but it's closing track 'Heavy Pop', with its patient introduction and almost-tamed vocals that acts as a counter-balance to the rest of the album's disorienting shrieks. It's weird, because I come across as critical here, but I think the final track just serves as the alka-seltzer for the headache of the 9 previous.


But don't get me wrong, I enjoy the other nine (Cave Song aside). I think I should be careful to write off someone so willing to try something new and different, and this album is both. I struggle to see just who, in real life, is going to even find about this though, and that's the frustrating thing about bands like these - they're huge for about a week on Pitchfork and are then mostly forgotten. I guess, though, that's for a different ranting post altogether, because what's here is a relatively enjoyable album. I'm not convinced it'll change anything, though.

Rating: 7/10
Highlights: We Bros, Summas Bliss, L Y F, Heavy Pop, Dirt
Avoid: Cave Song

Artwork Watch: HIPSTER ALERT.