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Youthmovies, Deaf Institute, Manchester

Live Reviews

The warmth from the audience is only surpassed by that of the band.

24th March 2010, Manchester Deaf Institute / By Matthew Britton
Youthmovies It seems that barely a day goes by when we’re not mourning the loss of something in the music industry. Over the past few weeks we’ve been forced to adjust to the fact that both BBC 6 Music and Woxy won’t be broadcasting anymore, coupled with the all too familiar updates about unrecouped bands, independents going under and music magazines distribution dropping by the day, all played out to the harrowing backdrop of illegal file sharing and a generation who refuse to pay to listen to their favourite bands. The ironic thing is that there’s scarcely been a better time for music lovers, with bands releasing more material and playing vaster tours than ever before, whilst the Internet, MySpace and Spotify have opened up new and forgotten acts for all to enjoy.

Formerly going under the name Youth Movie Soundtrack Stategies, they sound like a celebration of all that’s been great in the past 10 years of music, with their influences been drawn from a full range of math and post rock, all the way through to angular indie whilst covering drone and noise. However, a close to capacity Deaf Institute were there to grieve as much as celebrate – the band recently announced their split, citing the ‘logistical nightmare’ of getting the quintet together now they’ve spread from their Oxford roots. The amicable break-up is often just a cover for something the group don’t want to admit, but there’s not a hint of hostility on show as the band joke about it between songs. Indeed, the warmth from the audience is only surpassed by that between the members of Youthmovies.

As they tear through material from their first and only full album, 'Good Nature', it’s hard not to wonder what might have been under slightly different circumstance for Youthmovies. The breadth of their repertoire is phenomenal, and at times it feels as though they’re about eight good bands piled on top of one really good math rock band. In the eight or so years they’ve been together, they’ve become a finely tuned outfit and all their stop starting, time signature changes and mad breakdowns are done with the kind of accuracy that Muse fans think is exclusive to Matt Bellamy. Their brilliance lies in how much more they are than that alone, with vocalist Andrew Mears giving the band more than a passing resemblance to Grammatics, whilst the bands jaunty guitar gets the crowd moving and must’ve rubbed off on their close friends Foals.

Their greatest attribute could also be the reason Youthmovies never really made it out of the blocks - they’re enigmatic, difficult to pigeonhole and as the band finish up their main set, it’s hard to know how to feel, having been bombarded with an entire spectrum of sound for an hour. After offering support earlier in the evening, Adam Gnade joins the band for the start of their encore, stomping through his 2007 the title track from their 2007 EP collaboration ‘Honey Slide’, before leaving Youthmovies to play their final ever live song in Manchester. The music industry may be hemorrhaging money, but in a landscape so broad and all-encompassing, it’s a pity there won’t be room for these five extremely talented men any more. Rating: 9/10

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