ION INDIE MAGAZINE December 2016, Volume 31 | Page 108

“I can only speak for myself, but I always saw him as basically the father of our musical family. He was always
working on something—trying to include anyone he could; always pushing us to be better or do more. So
when he passed away, it really hit the Busch League hard. And especially when losing someone to
addiction—there was a level of guilt we all felt.”
To ease the pain of life lost before its time, they coped like any strong community does. They came together
and made music, the thing that bound them to Andy. The end result was the band and album “Youngblood”,
a 9 track record that combines the group’s penchant for good time indie groves, progressive technicality
and hip hop flow (produced by BRANDON MACLEAN/artwork by KELSEY BOWMAN). It is an album that
covers more sonic territory than you would expect, in just shy of 30 minutes.
The album opens with “All Mine”, a song that is almost uncomfortably upbeat musically. This makes the
next few tracks feel like a punch to the gut clear through “New Popes”, arguably the best song of a strong
collection. The album reaches an emotional plateau on “Lo and Behold”, a stripped down piece that you
will be sure you sang in church as a child until you hear the lyrics of defeat and remorse. I don’t think it is an
accident that this song splits the record into two halves--representing the descent and rise when things fall
apart around us. One of the things emphasized in the album is the sense of family. Guest vocalists and old
clips of the Busch League hang-outs make regular appearances, as well as Andy Hull himself courtesy of
Jared Frick’s personal catalogue of demos.
For Frick, who sings and plays bass for Ohio progressive alternative rockers CREATURE COMFORTS, this
album is a change of pace. Fans of progressive rock and early indie emo bands like AMERICAN FOOTBALL
and SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE will find this record a nice change of pace from the music currently being
made by the Codeine generation. Despite the change of pace, he thinks the subject matter is universal
enough that the music will still strike a chord.
“For fans of Creature Comforts, I hope people will like this album too—it’s a lot less chaotic musically, but
more direct in lyrical content. I tend to use a lot of metaphors lyrically, so writing something so directly to
the point and wearing my heart on my sleeve was a weird thing to me. This album was originally written to
help me not move on, not keep my feelings bottled up like normal.”
It’s not always easy to gain closure on the difficult periods of life. Sometimes it never happens. But, if you
are really lucky, something comes out of the blue and gives you a new means of holding on. I can say for a
fact that there is definite meaning to this music. On a personal note, I would also like to extend my support
for anyone battling to change their life. Rely on the people around you, before they have to rely on each other
to mourn you.
Find Youngblood online at:
https://www.facebook.com/buschleagued/
http://youngbloodband.bandcamp.com/