The Underground Youth / What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This? LP Graphite Eco-Mix Vinyl
The Underground Youth 'What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This?' LP Graphite Eco-Mix Vinyl
Manchester-born, Berlin-based band The Underground Youth revisit one of their most defining statements with a new ultra-limited reissue of 'What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This?'. Long out of print, this Underground Youth classic is being re-pressed on 180g 'graphite' eco-mix vinyl complete with alternative artwork, limited to only 250 copies.
Originally released in 2017, the record captured the band at a creative peak, expanding their lo-fi psychedelic post-punk foundations into something more textured and ambitious sonically, and more explicitly political thematically. Reverb-drenched guitars, brooding rhythms and Craig Dyer’s unmistakably haunted vocals drift between menace and melancholy. Balancing tension with atmosphere, melody with abrasiveness, 'Dystopian Hellhole' reflected a world that was teetering on uncertainty then, and has sunk far deeper into the abyss since. Nearly a decade on, the album’s stark, uneasy mood feels undiminished and the titular question it poses remains more apt than it's ever been.
Looking back on the record, Dyer says: "Ten years ago I was starting the writing process for what would become ‘What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This?’ We’d just moved to Berlin and David Bowie had passed away, come the end of the year we’d had the Brexit vote and Donald Trump was elected President of the US. It was an uncertain time and the songs that we recorded in Leo’s basement studio that summer were soaked in the fear and anger that accompanied the politics of 2016. They also happened to be beautifully layered and catchy songs that perfectly encapsulated what I wanted my band to represent. An album often cited by fans as their favourite from our back catalogue, it also remains one of mine."
Originally released in 2017, the record captured the band at a creative peak, expanding their lo-fi psychedelic post-punk foundations into something more textured and ambitious sonically, and more explicitly political thematically. Reverb-drenched guitars, brooding rhythms and Craig Dyer’s unmistakably haunted vocals drift between menace and melancholy. Balancing tension with atmosphere, melody with abrasiveness, 'Dystopian Hellhole' reflected a world that was teetering on uncertainty then, and has sunk far deeper into the abyss since. Nearly a decade on, the album’s stark, uneasy mood feels undiminished and the titular question it poses remains more apt than it's ever been.
Looking back on the record, Dyer says: "Ten years ago I was starting the writing process for what would become ‘What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This?’ We’d just moved to Berlin and David Bowie had passed away, come the end of the year we’d had the Brexit vote and Donald Trump was elected President of the US. It was an uncertain time and the songs that we recorded in Leo’s basement studio that summer were soaked in the fear and anger that accompanied the politics of 2016. They also happened to be beautifully layered and catchy songs that perfectly encapsulated what I wanted my band to represent. An album often cited by fans as their favourite from our back catalogue, it also remains one of mine."