An ode to the breathless energy of younger days, "Blood Red Youth," from California Wives finds itself at once nostalgic and troubled. The influences range from the ethereal bass lines of the earliest days of post-punk to the hi-fi guitars and synthesizers of a Phoenix record, and for most of five minutes they seem to be fighting for the very soul of the track. But the guitars gain texture, asserting more and more authority, finally wrestling to an upbeat hegemony in the song's final 90 seconds. The chorus soars up an octave, part of a satisfying down-shift take-off, hushed vocals turning into the vagueries of a battle cry, "not what those people did to you in your blood red youth." Oblique lyrics notwithstanding, the final message is at best unclear, energized, dark, lost and alive.
Listen :: California Wives - "Blood Red Youth"
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