Hipster Youth - Teenage Elders

A few weeks ago I received an email from Aiden Wall, who is fondly known in the music world as Dublin's Hipster Youth. I immediately delved into his catalogue, intrigued at his ability to craft a type of straightforward electro-pop that is as simple as it is complex. And even though life - busy as it can be sometimes - has done its best to keep me from updating here at Things as They Are, I'm just as pumped about his latest release, Teenage Elders, now as I was when I first heard it.

Wall calls his outfit a "a lo-fi dance experiment." And to an extent that is true; the constant beats and strong melodies make his sound danceable and just plain fun, and at times the delivery and vocals, when he decides to use them, have that cassette-tape quality. However, his songs are also very clean and tight, offering hooks through masterful production techniques - echoing artists that range from Kumon Plaza to Crystal Castles. Synths are complemented with quirky Nintendo-era bleeps and blips, in other words, and it all somehow blends successfully.

I'm not sure if his moniker is meant to be taken ironically or sincerely - and I suppose it doesn't really matter. The songs are fresh, and his pure approach to pop is exciting. Download the album for free here, or buy a copy through Long Lost.