Rough Trade - Barbed Wire

RICHARD YOUNGS

BARBED WIRE EXPLOSION IN THE KINGDOM OF ATLANTIS

Limited LP. Beyond 'Outsider,' beyond 'auteur' there is one figure who continues to revel in curveballs and sideways steps, and that figure is Glasgow based artist Richard Youngs. On 'Barbed Wire Explosion In The Kingdom Of Atlantis' Richard Youngs crafts a truly out-there and personal version of 80s D-Beat, recreating on his own the power of a punk band at the peak of its creative powers. Over pounding tin-can d-beats, the cheapest sounding power-chord guitar playing possible Youngs' voice is surviving the onslaught: recognisable from his previous vocal work but entirely perverted by a sonic form truly at wonderful odds with his lilting, droning tone. Easily more extreme in its execution than any number of 'classic' d-beat albums, this record aims for something, completely misses it and ends up in a place that is truly unique and needs to be heard. You can't ask more from an artist.

Richard Youngs - Barbed Wire Explosion in the Kingdom of Atlantis

Richard Youngs 'Barbed Wire Explosion in the Kingdom of Atlantis' is now available for pre-order on Sonic Oyster Records for £10.00 plus postage & packaging.

The album comes with full lyric sheet and is limited to an edition of 250. It will not be available in any other format.

Here's Richard's press release:

'Barbed Wire Explosion in the Kingdom of Atlantis is the sound of Richard Youngs attempting to recreate the sound of a band at the peak of its powers. Homemade in Glasgow to the backdrop of everyday life, nothing is hidden on this record. It is raw, direct, unpretentious, loud, fast, brief.

Richard Youngs' 38th solo album finds him revisiting a key influence on his adolescent self. He has had 30+ years to forget and now rediscover the joy of d-beat.'

The album is officially released on the 24th June, but you can pre-order directly now from http://sonicoysterrecords.bigcartel.com/

If you're desperate to get the album a week early, Volcanic Tongue will be selling it from Monday 17th June, with lyric sheet signed by Richard. You can find Volcanic Tongue at http://volcanictongue.com/

This is going to sell out fast, so don't delay in ordering your copy.

A track from 'Barbed Wire' can be heard on soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sonic-oyster-records/richard-youngs-m-f-s

Volcanic Tongue's Barbed Wire Review

Richard Youngs

Barbed Wire Explosion In The Kingdom Of Atlantis


Sonic Oyster Vinyl (SOV-002
)




"Massively anticipated brand new album from Richard Youngs in an edition of only 250 copies, with all VT copies coming with a lyric sheet individually signed by Richard while stocks last: this one has been gestating for a while. Youngs was a big d-beat fan back in the day and has been working towards a vision of an ultra streamlined hardcore record that would combine the protesting/apocalyptic aesthetic of Discharge/Rude Kids et al with the heavenly song-stylings/‘Church of England’ edge that defines the best of his back catalogue. Well this is it. And it’s a monster. The Rotten Masters EP that he cut with Andrew Paine and that was the debut Sonic Oyster Vinyl release points the way but oddly enough the style is less aggressive than on there while still shadowing the whole early-Public Image Limited ‘feel’, especially in Richard’s vocals, which come over like a home counties take on Lydon circa Metal Box. Drum machines kick in with the classic d-beat rhythm and Richard shreds on lead guitar, playing in a fast amphetamine-metal style that trades technique for tectonics. The lyrics are genre-perfect with classic tracks like “More Fucking Stuff” coming over like a typically textually convoluted yet two-fingers pithy assault on consumerism – “more fucking stuff/high rise wilderness/more fucking stuff/these briars of prefabrication/more fucking stuff/random dystopias of regeneration/more fucking stuff” – and classic choruses like “feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling” that marry the hypnotic, bardic style of tracks like “Summer’s Edge” from Summer Wanderer to urban street-fighting aesthetics. Yet despite the potentially generic trappings this is a classic Richard Youngs album with beautifully rendered songs and some truly stirring vocal performances, with his voice given a new sense of urgent delivery, somehow linking his own particular English DIY tradition to parallel currents like Public Image, Crass, A Flux Of Pink Indians and Rudimentary Peni. With perfect scrabbly/messy DIY cover art and an atmosphere that is a confounding mix of strident avant rock radicalism, hardcore refusal, high energy free metal and nostalgic teenage memorial this is at once a defining Richard Youngs side and a massive step outside. Another amazing instalment in one of the most fascinating and unpredictable trips in underground music. Very highly recommended, you need to hear this one..." (Volcanic Tongue)