Youth Mass move forward with eyes wide open
by Fergal Lynch Updated: Wednesday, 28th December, 2011 5:00pm
Trim band Youth Mass will launch their debut single 'Wide Eyes' in iTunes on Friday 6th January.
Meath alternative rockers Youth Mass will release their debut single 'Wide Eyes' on Friday 6th January.
This single promises to kicks off the year on a positive note for the Trim band after a successful 2011. Following the release of the Misanthropy EP, the world's music media began to take notice, with the record receiving airplay on not just a national scale, but on College Radio in the US and reaching the dizzying heights of BBC radio in England, earning an elusive stamp of approval from the legendary and influential DJ Steve Lemacq.
It wasn't until the release of 'Tony Don't You Worry' as a free download early in 2011, that real excitement started to build for the band's future potential. The song, described by Hotpress Magazine's Celina Murphy as 'a piece of lo-fi loveliness and a gem of a track', became a hit with critics and radio stations alike, opening doors for the four piece in the process.
It earned them the title of 'Your New Favourite Band' by huge American music website www.whatstheruckus.com. This grabbed the attention of Hollywood movie producers, who have now licensed the song for use in Christian Slater's new horror movie, 'Playback'.
The song was also playlisted by giant Swedish radio station 'Gimme Indie', creating a strong fan base all over Europe, which the band hopes to capitalize on with a European Tour later in 2012.
At home 'Tony Don't You Worry' was turning heads also with airplay from 2FM, Today FM, Spin 103.8 FM, 98FM, Phantom FM, Dublin City FM and many regional stations projecting the band from relative obscurity to ones to watch on the Irish scene.
Having ended 2011 on a high by supporting The Naked and Famous in the Olympia Theatre and playing the prestigious Irish music festival, Hard Working Class Heroes, the band are looking forward to the release of 'Wide Eyes', their debut single.
"We're pretty lucky to be in a position to be receiving this sort of attention before we've released our first single, let alone our first album," commented lead singer Darren Mullarkey. But we work hard and sacrifice a lot for this, that's not to say it's not worthwhile though. So far the experience has been amazing. Playing to a sold out crowd in The Olympia is not something that happens to every band, so we made sure to play our hearts out and firmly grasped the opportunity".
The coming year certainly looks like it's going to be a busy one for Youth Mass. After the single release, working on the album is the priority for the first half of 2012.
Guitarist Neil Nevins elaborates: "We're working non-stop on making the album at the moment. Debut albums are so important, so it's vital that ours is a contender with past greats. We've worked with producer Shane Cullen before and have every faith we can do something special here".
That confidence is echoed by bass player Gerry Ryan: "We've no reason not to think we can make it. Whenever we've been tested before we've passed. We're building momentum now and it's not going to stop anytime soon".
The band have every right to be self assured. Their music, described by mp3hugger as "post post rock to take your breath away", is more concerned with melody than virtuosity, and has been blowing the minds of audiences the length and breath of the country.
"In every town in Ireland, there's at least 10 guitar players who can mimic Jimi Hendrix perfectly, but that's not what Youth Mass is about, we focus more on building moods and creating buzzes rather than showing off how well we can play our instruments, said Nevins, before drummer Willy Gray chipped: "Which isn't very well."
Despite all the indie cred the band have earned, their songs still have a strong pop sensibility as single 'Wide Eyes' proves. It's a song with a melody that will crawl into your head and stay there for some time and should break the band into the mainstream, such is it's appeal.
Wide Eyes will be available from 6th January on iTunes and for more information on the Trim based band visit www.thisisyouthmass.com for music and videos.
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