The opening track, ‘Teresa’, written for a fan following
the death of her boyfriend, is a unique hybrid, a lullaby-turned-anthem of gentle
piano notes and Dom’s strained yet tender vocals metamorphosing into a welcoming
whirlwind of sound. It’s like stepping through the gates and into the theme
park, an apt description given the presence of songs like ‘cotton candy’ and ‘ice
cream man’. As I travel through the album, I feel the need to re-use last week’s
metaphor, except where Jonathan Davis was a kid wishing to be found, YUNGBLUD is
probably enjoying himself too much to realise he’s lost!
The playfully edgy and upbeat ‘cotton candy’ flirts
with the confusing world of sexuality and relationships, shaking them up into a
cocktail of rhythmically deep guitars and a cosy declaration that ‘I’m losing
myself in you and you and you and you’. It comes across as the gleefully
innocent sister next to the brash punk track ‘strawberry lipstick’, all prowling
bass, drumbeats and Dom’s rough Northern drawl to ‘take it easy on me’.
Having left the Tunnel of Love, we are brought to
the Ferris Wheel that is ‘mars’. This poignant track is about a trans girl and
her struggles to be accepted, inspired by David Bowie’s ‘Life on Mars?’, and even
sporting a guitar backing very similar to that heard in ‘Starman’. I heard it said
somewhere that YUNGBLUD would be the Bowie of our modern generation and I
honestly could not agree more. Here Dom’s vocals gradually rise from a husky
drawl to almost a scream to emphasise the sense of desperation and carry the
backing up with him. Check out the video for this one here.
The sudden and bombastic arrival of ‘superdeadfriends’
perhaps breaks the spell a little prematurely, its raucous, near unintelligible,
vocals almost drowning out everything else, but, if I carry on the theme of ‘sparks’
in the night, this is almost what I imagine a shooting star might sound like as
it passes by. Thankfully, ‘love song’ arrives to soothe any unfortunate burns,
a song which I believe to be the most beautifully crafted on the whole album. Each
element is introduced one at a time, comfortably building the depth and volume from
the simplicity of an acoustic lullaby all the way up to a power ballad which dips
gracefully back into the plucked guitar strings of the intro. If that wasn’t
enough, Dom’s promise that ‘I won’t let you down’ should ease any heartache
incurred during the pandemic.
The second anthem on this album comes courtesy of ‘god save me, but don’t drown me out’, a clean and simple song of hope, of strength in tough times, which shines some sunshine on an otherwise
gloomy day. But if that’s too serious for you, ‘ice cream man’ crashes in to deliver some pop-punk playfulness about society, even giving us a taste of 2018’s track ‘King Charles’ with its quirky ‘council’ notification. The roller coaster then takes a dive into the gently nostalgic psychedelia of title track ‘weird!’, laced with an arcade-style synth tune, perfectly choreographed drums and just the right amount of excitable screaming to make this a song as fresh and full of sunshine as ‘god save me…’
Another injection of nostalgia comes in the form of
‘charity’, a track that’s chasing the likes of Oasis and Blur with its drawn-out
guitar licks, stomping melody, and bold cheeky choruses, as well as its theme
of societal discontent. There’s a final drop into the realm of acoustics for ‘it’s
quiet in beverly hills’, a song which maintains a gentle tempo and volume,
threaded with the classical air of a violin in the background, and foregrounded
by Dom’s full yet careful voice, before the end of the show draws near.
‘Welcome to the freak show, I hope that you find
yourself today’ he says, ushering us into ‘the freak show’ which gives off a
distinct haunted house vibe with its distorted vocal intro, heavier drums and creeping
guitars. This vibe is shattered by a bizarrely light chorus which, even now, I’m
still not too sure about, but the song redeems itself with a breakdown
reminiscent of My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade, complete with
rolling drums and a marching chant of ‘we’ll go on’. And to top it off, we are
reminded that YUNGBLUD is just as loyal as his own fan-base, screaming his
parting words that ‘I will spend my life believing in you’.
Not every review of this album will be as shining
as mine – Kerrang! gives it a 2/5 for being ‘a
collection of good moments disappointingly hidden under an avalanche of sugar’
– but for Dominic Harrison, I’ll happily risk this toothache.
FULL ALBUM: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nTq6cgmLWxxXnjq3gwXivTaEQEKaqA9rc
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