Young Widows - Old Wounds

I have been an Evan Patterson fan for some years now, going back to his work in The National Acrobat and Black Cross (originally called Black Widows), and more recently Coliseum, (though for some reason I haven’t given Breather Resist all that much of a try). I was interested to hear that he was involved in a new band that, though likely carried some similarity with his other works (they all have his distinct imprint even though the bands span across different genres), was another avenue for his creative guitar sound and songwriting. Young Widows, like the previously mentioned bands, are based out of Louisville, KY. The three piece group featuring Jeremy McMonigle, Evan Patterson, Nick Thieneman, released Old Wounds a couple years ago (2008). You can expect a heavy dose of discordant guitar and math-rock like song structures (though not too overwhelming) mixed with equal parts melody and a rough Midwestern feel to the whole package. Vocals are sung, but are bit rough. The recording is done very well, with attention to the sounds produced from the low end and guitars. The whole album runs through 11 songs in just over 32 minutes, never getting overly burdened with repetitiveness. I would say the song writing is better here than on some previous works (Black Cross for example) resulting in more memorable songs, which aren’t overly complicated for the sake of complexity.


Young Widows - "Took A Turn"

Opening things up on the album is "Took A Turn". We are treated to grinding bass panned hard right while spoken/sung vocals begin hard left in the mix. This groove sums up the feel of the whole album pretty well. Dark, dusty country road, middle of nowhere and not exactly innocent. When the drums kick in alongside the bass, still panned hard right, we get a buildup to what was surprising a slower beat than I had expected and really worked well to keep the mood created by the bass going instead of copping out into something quicker. Then the guitar enters and everything pans out equally from the middle and a few seconds later the song starts to drive foward, drums and bass throbbing, guitar edgy and disjointed at times. The song shoots straight into the next song "Old Skin", which serves as an fine transition to a more traditional strong structure, but not losing the mood built up by "Took A Turn".


Young Widows - "Let Him Be"

Nearing the end of the album, "Let Him Be", a short (2:22 minute) song is composed of and features straightforward vocals over pounding guitar and drums, and a bass line that noodles its way around within the mix. The instruments are played together tightly and the pace is faster than what you normally find within the the album. This pace only lasts for about half the song, as after a short break where only the background sound of a crowd is heard, vocals usher back a percussive driven ending portion of the song that is accompanied by more of that grinding bass.

Young Widows are aided by being on a strong indie label in Temporary Residence (Coliseum, Pinback, Three Mile Pilot, The Books) and you can find this release there in both CD and LP versions for $10.