By Brandon Henry Photo Credit Jason Larkin
Wasted Youth is the first album in four years from the Minneapolis – based Fairfax, AK and the wait is well worth it. With its orchestral rock arrangements, finely crafted lyrics and an edge of punk angst, they demonstrate a maturity in their songwriting that is a testament to coming of age, again. This is a cohesive collection of songs that brilliantly trace the jagged arc of growing up, moving on and lamenting what is left behind.
Through eleven songs, lead singer/songwriter Doc along with his crew made up of Dave, Corey, Tim and Haley, muse on the conflicting push and pull of the desire to let go while holding onto the innocence of youth. It’s a grass is greener situation that nearly everyone faces and Fairfax, AK masterfully captures the journey.
There’s a restless energy that permeates throughout these songs from “trying to escape my echoes of yesterday” in “Santa Fe” to growing tired of “the street lights bar fights” in “The Neighborhood.” Doc sings of deliberately breaking out of these cycles and coming to terms with the mistakes of the past as he lets the “wind clear [his] head” in “White Lies of the Freeway” and eventually reveling in the feeling of starting anew with “Paycheck to Paycheck.”
By the end of the record, Doc seems to be reflecting on the youth left behind on the title track, longing to get “that innocence back.” With its soaring refrain, “wasted my youth when I was young” you can almost feel relief washing over him as he comes to terms with the past and the loss of innocence.
There is not one wasted song on Wasted Youth, with its echoes of punk rebellion that patch up its ripped jeans and take on the truths and myths of adulthood with a wiser, headstrong tattooed spirit.
Fairfax, AK celebrates the release of Wasted Youth on Thursday, September 15th at Icehouse in Minneapolis along with Maya Elena, who is releasing her first self titled EP.
http://www.icehousempls.com/
Be sure to check out their digital single “Jesus Goes to Hollywood,” a socially charged, pop-rock political song that’s a catchy cross between Weezer and Billy Bragg, just in time for election.
http://www.fairfaxak.bandcamp.
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