Album Review: Dead Inner Youth – Dead Inner Youth

“You fascist fuck, fuck you! You think you’re above the rest?”

Dead Inner Youth – Dead Inner Youth
November 24th, 2022
Hardcore Punk / Crossover
Independently Released
St. John’s, Newfoundland

Dead Inner Youth have been a hardcore punk staple of St. John’s for a while, but their surprise self-titled album release back in November gave everyone a good reason to check them out. I covered their lead single Karma Kills on my “best NL punk music of 2022” article, but Dead Inner Youth has a lot more to prove on their debut LP.

Hearkening back to classic hardcore punk and street punk of the 80’s, we have heavy riffs that provide a solid foundation for the roaring vocals and d-beat drums. Nathan Tizzard is behind the drums for this release, whose work with Dendron proves his flexible drums techniques. Tizzard’s speed is never messy and keeps a steady pace with the band. Clearly, he’s an asset to any local band. Perhaps most notable is Darryl Surch’s growling vocals, who provides an unrelenting edge to the already-raging instrumentation. These vocals provide a more modern edge to the classic hardcore songwriting. Frankly, these are some of the best vocals from the punk scene right now. 

Most notable about Dead Inner Youth is the production. Local punk releases tend to get relegated to demos and DIY recordings, and while that’s true to the roots of the genre, it’s nice to hear local hardcore that sounds professionally engineered and mixed. In saying this, at no point does this release sound over-produced or plastic. Dead Inner Youth maintains their impactful sound without ever losing the edge. 

Most melodic of the songs here is “Drugs & Thuggs”, which showcases the cleaer vocals of Dead Inner Youth. Unfortunately, I found this to be the weakest of the batch, though I appreciate it’s inclusion for tracklist pacing and variety. It’s the following song, “Fascist Fuck”, that shows the band at their best. It’s unrelenting, moshable, and poignantly political. “Peter Popoff” is another standout, using unique sampling during the breakdown to create an ambiance that elevates the entire song. 

This release is short but every minute is killer. The culmination of Dead Inner Youth’s career has proven to be their finest showing and one that NL’s punk scene can champion. I look forward to seeing the band play more live shows in future, as they have the deadliest songs for moshing. In their own words: “Buy it. Stream it. Pirate it.”

Final Verdict: 8/10
Great

Favourite Tracks:
“Karma Kills”
“Fascist Fuck”
“Peter Popoff”

~ Stephen