October Drift - Blame The Young (Physical 
Education Recordings)
Release Date: Out Now
Out just in time for October (close one lads), 'Blame The Young' is the bristling new album from October Drift and I urge you to down tools and pay attention to this one. We get going with the title track all brooding vocals and pent-up energy giving us a Chappaqua Wrestling vibe as they sing "it's just minimum wage, blame your age" with a knowing smile. 'Demons' maintains the energy but with a nod to some of the more bombastic 80s bands like Simple Minds or Nick Cave in his prime delivering the the opening lines "Wrap your arms around my neck, I miss you like I miss a cigarette, I miss you like a setting sun, like cement lying in my lungs". On 'Nothing Makes Me Feel (The Way You Do)' we slow things down and there is a sense of sadness, loss and endings that really gets you right in the feels before 'Wallflower' is a woozy, stumbling home in the wee small hours kind of song that stops you in your tracks.
The mid section of the album kicks off with the aural blast of 'Don't Care' which is powered solely by the throb of a low slung bass guitar and then we have 'Everybody Breaks', full of fragility, 90s grunge aesthetics and an anthemic sound punctuated by the kind of drums that demand a clap along - "Not waving by drowning and dragging you down" they sing, reminding me of Headswim at their peak. 'Borderline' is a shimmering beast of shoegaze that breaks on the shores of recent single 'Tyrannosaurus Wreck' which comes out fighting with a peppy, twitchy energy that makes you want to dance into the sunset.
The deceptively morose intro to 'Hollow' soon erupts in the chorus into something altogether wondrous and, honestly, if this was a religion I'd be splashing 'special' water on my head by this point. The glitchy beats of 'Heal' remind me of the much missed Cooper Temple Clause as the guitars and vocals build in intensity and power until we're off and soaring over landscapes full of hope and faded glories. The album closes out with 'Not Running Anymore', a 'Champagne Supernova' slow banger that exists for impassioned sing-a-longs, hugging your best mates and reminding you that music is the great (if not greatest) healer out there - stick that in your pipe and smoke it, time. 'Blame The Young' is a brilliant, angry, ambitious and vital album that will be in my shortlist for album of the year unless something phenomenal happens in the next few months.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/octoberdrift