I’m always open minded when I review a record. You have to be. That said, it’s sometimes not easy to avoid other press and reviews and when I saw Alter The Press had given these guys 4.5/5 my ears pricked up and I approached this EP with expectations raised. You can imagine my disappointment then to hear a record that sounds like You Me At 6‘s b-sides. Let me get one thing straight – My Lost Youth aren’t a bad band, I just don’t think they execute their ideas all that well and all too often the songs here song like YMA6. For instance, ‘Final Rounds’ plods along at half the speed it should do, with very basic drums, timing issues and a vocal that may as well be sung by Josh Franthingymabob.
‘The Aftermath’ again sounds like YMA6, this time covering Angels and Airwaves. Too many times the band go out of tune, not just vocally but also in the music. The drums struggle to keep time while there are some bum guitar notes too. It’s basic stuff – you can’t blame the band for having good musical ideas, even if they are heavily borrowed, but you can blame them for sloppy musicianship. Still, practice makes perfect and if My Lost Youth can put down their YMA6 records and tighten themselves up, maybe one day they’ll deserve those positive reviews. As it is, this is a long, long, long way off perfection.