- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
The lyrics’ sometimes-dark intent is another detail to chew over among the songs’ many fine details, and provides a needed complication on an album that’s otherwise so thoroughly agreeable.
-
Pretty much every track on Spirit Youth sports a bewitching melody that makes perfect use of the hypnotic swirl of guitars and electronics, moving in an elegant arc as it unfolds. You can hear it in the delivery, too, with nuanced vocals that seem to say "Hey, after all the trouble we went to in writing these tunes, we're damn well gonna give ‘em their due."
-
By downplaying the elements that made the Depreciation Guild initially stand out from the crowd, Spirit Youth is a decidedly less distinctive album than their debut. However, by making that choice, they've made what turns out to be their best.
-
It's one of those rare albums that manages to borrow just enough from its well-treaded sources to avoid charges of outright theft. That isn't to say that the band delivers anything truly new here, but they manage to present a paved-over musical tradition in a way we're not quite used to hearing.