Since Commitment to Complications nearly ten years ago, Youth Code have kept a strangely low profile, turning every appearance into a memorable explosion. In the studio, first of all: Sara Taylor and Ryan George have only released one album since then, in collaboration with King Yosef in 2021 and a single with HEALTH in 2020, releases that are as rare as they are boisterous. Then there are the lives: the Californian duo have brought the stage to a boil as support acts for Skinny Puppy and Frontline Assembly, and Carpenter Brut in France... and have been chosen by Trent Reznor himself to wake up Hellfest in the early afternoon of 2022. We don't see them a lot, but every time we do, it's huge. Which explains our excitement at the arrival of Yours, With Malice: Youth Code are FINALLY back, albeit with ‘only’ an EP, but it's about time! So that's a very long introduction to say: it's going to be a real banger and we're going to blow things up again.
Blowing things up: yeah, No Consequence hit hard. Youth Code have lost none of their verve, and their recent signing to Sumerian Records, a label that tends towards metal, only betrays a desire to experiment rather than a real change of direction. At times, you could almost imagine Sara Taylor growling... and before halfway through the track, a sort of big synthetic double-pedal drives the point home: the first thing Youth Code destroys is codes. The duo have taken EBM and modernised it by adding a hefty dose of angst and anger, smashing the binary rhythms and icy atmosphere into a merciless tornado of punk/hardcore energy. A vitriolic anthem, Wishing Well confirms that while Taylor chants her unifying slogans: yeah, bangers after bangers.
The machines charge, bite, and, in a collage of sounds and frenetic rhythm breaks, evoke the cyberpunk madness of Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo, between metallic textures and formal experimentation. As usual, the vocals infuse Youth Code with their raw soul, giving their social and protest themes an irresistible rage, a visceral, revanchist tone that's profoundly enjoyable despite their darkness and, alas, their still highly topical relevance. But we also appreciate the nuances that make the project so rich, like the more contemplative melancholy of In Search of Tomorrow, an anguished introspection that seems to respond to the punks' slogan “no future”, or the heaviness of Make Sense and its clearer vocals: Youth Code combines despondency and revolt with the energy of despair, and contrasts its melody with blast beats. Subtlety and poetry while blowing things up.
And just when you think that without this burning rage I'm Sorry could almost have gone synthpop, Yours, With Malice stops. The explosion was short-lived, intense, savage and so satisfying. The essence of Youth Code is still there, with a taste for nuance, discreet surprises and diverse influences creeping in here and there. That's a lot of words to say, and while we're using all these complicated words, Youth Code are kicking butts. This reunion feels good (except for the neighbours), and fingers crossed (ours or those of the pissed off neighbours we broke when they came to complain) that the recent signing to a new label will mean new things in the future!
