YUNGBLUD “weird!” Album Review

Yorkshire pop punker Dominic Harrison, AKA YUNGBLUD is a voice and role model that countless Gen Z kids and young adults need in these times. An artist who is known for defying gender roles and challenging the societal “norm,” Harrison graces his diverse fanbase with an album about celebrating your own weirdness. Appropriately titled weird!, any listener has a pretty good idea of what they’re getting into when they press play. Using a charming blend of pop, punk, rock and stripped balladry, YUNGBLUD adds his own charismatic passion to each track. This ties together the threads of his stylistic spectrum to form a coherent body of work specially made for freethinkers and alienated groups.

Opener “teresa” gives the album a light start with twinkling keys and soft pianos that transform into storming guitars and roaming melodies. Through a reposed mindset, Harrison sings in honor of a grieving fan and her deceased boyfriend, telling the story of him watching over her from the other side. As this closely parallels the relationship between Harrison and his fans, the song is a suitable opener that provides a glimpse of the sentimental odyssey following. This is especially apparent in “mars,” inspired by an interaction with a transgender fan at Warped Tour 2018. The fan’s parents were accompanying her at the festival and had been struggling to accept her as a woman. However, after seeing a community of people like her, they became more understanding of the reality she faces – an uplifting story that would make for a heartening pop punk tune a couple years later.

“strawberry lipstick” is a catchy rock song with Harrison utilizing his punk snarl throughout, singing about the abuse and manipulation often endured in relationships that claim to be loving. It begins with him screaming, “This is a song about a person I love,” instantly sparking the fatigue that comes with staying with one who takes advantage of your good virtue. It also includes a seething guitar solo that further exudes the suppressed anger lying beneath the docile lyrics.

The poppier side of the album shines through on the playful bubblegum track “cotton candy,” which has Harrison fully embracing his sexuality through perky melodies over funky bass. The tender “love song” carries a deeper meaning than the simplicity of its title suggests. It’s a ballad about growing up in a broken home with a skewed perception of love, and the journey of coming out of that hole through experiencing a healthy, genuine love. The title track employs a different side of YUNGBLUD’s pop leanings, implementing a mass of synths and electronics that give it a cinematic emanation. It emphasizes the record’s “coming of age” theme through crucial lines such as, “Don’t wreck your brain, it’ll be alright / We’re in a weird time of life.”

The raging “superdeadfriends” rips like a modern Beastie Boys or Rage Against the Machine, fueled by the bluntest and most carefree sides of Harrison’s outlook on life. His vocals are completely unhinged for the majority of the track, maniacally chanting in hopes that the new generation will continue paving the way for a new world. Tracks like “ice cream man” and “charity” wield a similar brazenness, boldly described by Harrison as, “I’m going to be my cross-dressing, lipstick-wearing self, even if it fucking kills you.” The pop punk “god save me, but don’t drown me out” is a more lighthearted take on this, focusing on self-help and overcoming insecurities.

The album’s one filler, “acting like that” featuring Machine Gun Kelly, was originally meant for MGK’s last record Tickets to My Downfall, so it’s no surprise it sounds out of place on weird!. With a vibe like a slightly more evolved version of Metro Station and melodies that fall flat in comparison to the rest of the record, you could skip this track and the album as a whole would feel just as complete.

The acoustic “it’s quiet in beverly hills” provides a short break of serenity before monumental closer and outcast’s anthem “the freak show” that ends the record with a bang. With its many sections, dynamic direction and ceremonious ending, it belongs on a playlist with “Jesus of Suburbia,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Welcome to the Black Parade.” Harrison described the song in an interview with Apple Music, “There are four key changes, five time changes, and a big, dramatic ending. It’s every YUNGBLUD song squeezed into one.” The moment the gang vocals and drum march kick in, it feels like you’re in a parade for minorities and marginalized groups. It builds into a full band for the final minute of the album, ending with an impassioned scream of the memorable lines, “Times will change and you might break / But I will spend my life believing in you.”

With weird!, YUNGBLUD blows off steam that has been building up in him since his childhood – making for a highly relatable collection of songs for his growing fanbase. As a rising inspiration for younger audiences in rock and punk that ties over into pop and electronic, he is on the road to becoming a common gateway artist that could bring the two scenes closer together, while simultaneously building a bridge between them.

Favorite tracks: superdeadfriends, the freak show