Album Info

The Magic of Youth

Alternative - 2011

Like fried chicken and waffles, nobody expected third-wave ska and gargantuan heavy metal guitars to go so well together. With... more

Tracklist

1

The Daylights

2:21 min
2

Like a Shotgun

3:15 min
3

Disappearing

3:26 min
4

Sunday Afternoons on Wisdom Ave

3:36 min
5

They Will Need Music

3:45 min
6

The Package Store Petition

3:12 min
7

The Horse Shoe and the Rabbits Foot

3:57 min
8

The Magic of Youth

3:10 min
9

The Upper Hand

3:16 min
10

The Ballad of Candlepin Paul

3:24 min
11

Open and Honest

2:51 min

About The Magic of Youth

Like fried chicken and waffles, nobody expected third-wave ska and gargantuan heavy metal guitars to go so well together. With its ninth studio album, the Boston octet proves its music has the shelf life of a Twinkie. The first cut, “The Daylight,” opens on crunchy post-grunge guitar distortion, gang vocals, and wall-to-wall brass. That wide-angle horn section takes a more prominent role in the catchy “Like a Shotgun” before singer Dicky Barrett offers rough, whispery inflections in “Disappearing,” sounding a little like Social Distortion's Mike Ness. If you’re looking for more traditional ska rhythms, check out the upbeat “Sunday Afternoons on Wisdom Ave.,” which bounces with all the pick-it-up/pick-it-up gusto of early-'90s Orange County, Calif. Another album standout surfaces in “The Upper Hand,” a Clash-flavored number boasting stellar bass parts by Joe Gittleman.