angel in realtime

A few words on the new Gang of Youths record

Thanks for joining me here for another dispatch of my music and menswear newsletter, which is different (but somewhat the same) as my daily style blog from which it gets its name. Thanks for reading!

Blink and you’ll miss it, or at the very least, blink and weeks will fly by. It’s been too long since your friendly neighborhood Brooklyn writer sent out a dispatch via this newsletter — although I’ve certainly kept busy at my daily style blog & with other writing endeavors in the meantime. The last time out — again, far too long ago — I talked about the best way to support recording artists in this troubled time, and it’s been on my mind since then, too. Of course, my plate’s been about as full as a crate of vinyl records — check out my work at SPY and my work at Maxim for more of what’s been going on in my neck of the woods (but a small slice!).

Beyond that though, I’ve found myself turning time and again on nightly Brooklyn walks — interspersed with a trip to Florida! — to one record in particular: The stunning “angel in realtime” by Aussie rockers Gang of Youths (there they are at the top of the page).

Clocking in at a whopping 67 minutes across 13 beautifully crafted songs, the record charts the journey of frontman Dave L’aupepe following the 2018 death of his father. The singer — part of a towering band that puts on a ferocious live show — discovered he had two long-lost brothers, and that his father was actually a decade older than previously believed. A tradesman with a powerful legacy who worked hard to provide for his family, Le’aupepe’s father emigrated to Australia before Dave’s birth, and had an impactful, if complicated life. It’s an astonishing story, captured wonderfully and directly on the record itself. To say you have to hear it for yourself only begins to capture its sweeping, gorgeous scope.

My favorite track of the moment is the roaring, propulsive “in the wake of your leave” — it just might stop you in your tracks.

Gang of Youths have been a favorite band of mine since I saw them play to a packed house at the small confines of NYC’s Mercury Lounge in 2017 — they’re now even bigger than I could have imagined. All of which is to say, it was an absolute pleasure to chat with Gang of Youths bassist Max Dunn for Atwood Magazine — we talked all about the new record, the band’s journey alongside its frontman, and the album’s powerful themes of love, loss and legacy.

Since filing that piece, I’ve listened even more closely to the record, and connected with it in ways I didn’t imagine possible. If you’re looking for a new album to listen to this weekend, please, make it this one: It’ll move you in untold ways, I nearly guarantee it. I’ll leave you with Gang of Youths for now — let’s make it count this day and every day!