One thing about Citizen is they consistently put out bangers. A little over 10 years of being a band and not once have they had a “meh” album. Their debut album, 2011’s Young States showed the world that they are a band to keep on your radar, but their sophomore album, 2013’s Youth put them on map and set themselves up for consistent success. Since then they’ve released three other albums (Everybody is Going to Heaven, As You Please, and Life in Your Glass World). You know when Citizen puts out a new album, it’s going to be a good day. And it all started with the release of their iconic sophomore album, Youth.
Opening tracks of albums have an important job and usually are the deciding factor for someone if they’re checking out a new band. Youth's opening track, “Roam the Room” sucks you in immediately with a very fast guitar riff paired with drums and no matter what volume it’s at,it still sounds loud. It then mellows itself out a bit, but then the pace picks itself back up again. Personally speaking, this is my favorite song off this album and even before it took the title of my favorite track, it was always one of the few songs I kept coming back to. It’s fast, loud, and keeps you hooked in no matter what part of the song you’re on. It gives you a pretty good idea of what you’re getting into when I check out this album sound wise, a combination of grunge, post hardcore, emo, and hardcore elements. Lyrically, you don’t even know what’s coming. “Roam The Room” is a track that hooks you in because of its intense energy and makes you want to stick around.
The second song off the record, “Figure You Out” has a much slower tempo than the track that first welcomes us into the world of Youth. You’ve still got the grunge and emo influence that first showed up in “Roam The Room,” but it’s a significantly slower track (but definitely not the slowest song on the album). It definitely allows you to focus more on the lyrical content which shows how depressing this album really is, and looking back, you can tell the songwriting ability of vocalist Mat Kerekes has only improved since then. This somewhat mellow tempo is something that continues on in tracks “The Summer,” “Your Head Got Misplaced,” “Speaking With A Ghost” and “Drawn Out”).
Track number 4- the iconic “Sleep” is a collection of all the tempos of songs off this record and is part of three of the most insane songs all being back to back (the other two songs being “How Does It Feel?” and “The Night I Drove Alone”). I know for a fact if I had the chance to show someone only one song off this album, I would show them this one. “Sleep” is a standout track as it highlights everything that makes Youth so captivating. It’s a song that starts out slow which gives you a lot of time to really sit with and appreciate the lyrics before jumping right into the bridge where you can spend more time enjoying the upbeat instrumentals. All the genres that Citizen was inspired by making this record are showcased in this song in particular. We have the opportunity to chill out for a bit with the seamless transition from “Sleep” into “How Does It Feel?” as the last minute or so of “Sleep” is a sneak preview into the main instrumental pattern that is in the track after. It’s no secret that Youth has some of the most depressing lyrics imaginable and the mellow nature of tracks 5 and 6 off this album really force you to truly sit with the lyrics and just wallow in sadness. The entire listening experience of this album is positive because it’s incredible how to listen to this and think about how far Citizen has come as a band since then, but lyrically it’s still one of the saddest albums I’ve heard to this day.
The second to last song, “Sick and Impatient” somewhat mirrors the structure of “Roam the Room” but much slower, definitely not as slow as “How Does It Feel?” and “The Night I Drove Alone.” Like “Sleep” it allows you to experience everything that makes Youth sound like Youth. Sad lyrics, nods to grunge and emo stylings of songs- you’ve got everything.
Youth is an album that shows the early stages of a promising band and solidifies that Citizen set out to make the world know that when they released this album, they were not going anywhere. They made it very clear that they were here to stay with a solidified idea on what their sound was and the way they write their lyrics allowed them to stand out from other bands. Ten years ago, this album put them in the spotlight and it is still highly regarded by emo and post-hardcore fans today. It’s held up incredibly well, and it’s amazing to listen to their later releases and show that since Youth’s release, the only way is up and they just keep getting better and better.
