If there was any further proof needed of Poor Young Things’ dedication to both
the spirit of rock ‘n roll, and to each other, it’s burned into the digital grooves of
their latest EP Force Of Nature. Like really, how many other five-piece bands
would be able to endure three weeks with each other in a hotel room containing
only two single beds? But when the Toronto-based outfit ventured to Brooklyn in
January 2015 to record the EP’s six new songs, they were definitely not thinking
about going on a vacation, but instead pushing their already established no-frills,
high-energy rock to new heights.
It’s all there in the lead single, Like An Animal, a double-barrelled blast of
euphoric guitar pop which also ingeniously co-opts perpetual New York City
mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan’s catchphrase for its hook, “You can’t pay the
rent ‘cause you’re too damn high.” And with that track setting a torrid pace, Force
Of Nature speeds on through the remaining five tracks, mowing down everything
in its path.
The EP’s crisp precision can be credited in part to producers Gus Van Go and
Werner F., whose extensive resumes include The Stills, Hollerado, Monster
Truck, Whitehorse, and many more. It follows on the heels of the band’s 2013
full-length debut, The Heart. The Head. The End., which earned Poor Young
Things significant wins on both sides of the border, specifically being named
Sirius XM’s 2013 Emerging Artist Of The Year, and landing a slot on the 2013
Vans Warped Tour.
For a band already accustomed to doing 100-plus shows per year, capturing their
on-stage power in the studio has always come naturally, and that was no
different in their approach to Force Of Nature, as front man Matt Fratpietro
explains.
“We went into the sessions with 12 songs ready to record and after Gus and
Werner heard them all, they were able to categorize them pretty quickly,” he
says. “They basically just wanted to focus on the songs with the best grooves,
and we were totally okay with that. Our approach from the beginning has been to
try to bridge the gap between rock and pop, and when I listen to the EP now I
think it’s cool how each track sounds like an homage. There’s our Tom Petty
song, our Motown song, and the first acoustic song we’ve ever recorded. We
really just wanted to put something out that people could groove to.”
Making people move any way they can has been Poor Young Things’ mission
since forming in 2007. In many ways, Fratpietro and his cohorts—guitarists David
Allan Grant and Michael Kondakow, bassist Scott Burke, and drummer Konrad
Commisso—are still the same five friends who began jamming together in
Thunder Bay, Ontario, and the undeniable chemistry they share remains the
foundation of Poor Young Things’ sound. Like all great rock bands, it’s a kind of
street gang mentality, or perhaps more accurately, a belief that no one’s musical
ideas are off limits, as long as they can connect with audiences.
The group realized that themselves while on the Vans Warped Tour, Fratpietro
says. “It was really fun, but it was also really bizarre to be on the Warped Tour.
We did about 12 stops in the southern U.S. and the people were great, but in
musical terms, it often didn’t seem like we fit in. It was like, bands were out there
screaming, and at first it made me feel like Elvis Presley up there crooning. But
that just meant we had to work harder to win people over, which was great. I
could see that the audiences understood that a catchy song is a catchy song,
whether you’re screaming or not. Overall, it was a really positive experience, and
we loved being able to represent Canada.”
So, after a relatively quiet 2014, Poor Young Things are now primed to build on
those lessons learned with full-scale touring in support of Force Of Nature. The
time seems ideal for the band to prove once and for all that they deserve a place
alongside Canada’s best live acts, as well as best pop-rock songwriters.
“Being on stage and getting people excited and involved is definitely what we
love to do most, and putting out this EP is going to give us a chance to get back
to doing that on a more full-time basis,” Fratpietro says. “We’ve been storing up
all this rocket fuel for a year, and now we’re ready to go.”
Connect with Poor Young Things online: (Website) (Facebook) (Twitter) (iTunes) (YouTube)
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