June 14, 2011

Album Reviews: Young Widows - 'In And Out Of Youth And Lightness'

Collision of blues and punk from the ex-hardcore kids

7 / 10 Flying the flag for their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, Young Widows uphold its reputation for enabling ex-hardcore kids to create creepy, gloomy guitar music. They might not be quite as epochal as Slint or Will Oldham in this regard, but ‘In And Out…’, their third album, takes leggy strides on from the previous two.

The considerable Jesus Lizard influence of old is now a vehicle to explore great plains of blackened swamp-rock; Evan Patterson’s lyrical turns of phrase are still subtly unsettling, and the overall collision of punk and blues is a bit like Grinderman, without the spectre of ironic smirking.

Noel Gardner

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