American Wrestlers // Goodbye Terrible Youth

American Wrestlers

Goodbye Terrible Youth

Fat Possum Records

4.25/5 stars

Brilliant and wonderfully chimey, Goodbye Terrible Youth has a comforting sound. There's a 90s throwback that mixes with the twee charm you'd get from high school covers of The Cure. This album follows up the band's spectacular 2015 eponymous debut. The St. Louis quartet picks up the tempo a little bit, with a steady finger-tapping rhythm from start to finish. The record is a perfect soundtrack for the fall season. There's just something about fuzzy lo-fi indie rock that pairs perfectly with autumn leaves and cardigans. The sound is freeing: Gary McClure's voice is high and soft a la Robert Schneider (the Apples in Stereo) or Doug Martsch (Built to Spill). Despite the cheerful sounding exterior, the lyrics make good on the album title's promise. Personal accounts are woven into bleak tales of growing up and coping with our modern age. Chorus-less songs go on, repeating melodies, but not repeating lyrics. The depths are there to visit when you need to, but the words linger, heavily obscured and distorted into a shoegaze lullaby. 

– Nick Warren