Young Punk New Album “Last Things” out January 29

Take the classic dreamy spells of trip-hop trailblazers (Massive Attack), blend in some downbeat club (Thievery Corporation), then some space-funk and trippy surf-fusion flavors (Khruangbin), and you’ve got Detroit’s Young Punk. They make music for any moment, any hour, any scenario. Their diffusing grooves fit into any room, car, club, basement, or loft, wherever you may find yourself. Slow rhythms, soulful vocals, and spacey guitars envelop the listener like a fog, producing a calming effect and enhanced focus in every corner of your mind. The Detroit-based quartet will release their latest album, “Last Things,” Tuesday, January 29st.

Their new album proves that the band has gotten better than ever at creating a soundscape that seems minimal, but feels maximal, danceable but delicate. It’s a slick soundtrack for your drive to the club as much as it’s the tunes you’d put on to aid you in a research project, a design project, or just a meditating-and-getting-back-to-yourself project. The guitars are expressive but sparse, the sequenced beats keep the wheels rolling, the bass threads a subtle strain of funk, and the vocals can be as nimble in their hip-hop lyricism as they are lush and elegant in soulful, R&B tender balladry.

Young Punk is transcendent without being over the top. It’s not out to raise your pulse or break your heart or bang your head. It’s music to help you get where you’re going, even if that’s a momentary, and needed stillness.

Videographer/producer Andy Ahrendt created this dazzling, static-y, color-splashed video to go along with the album’s lead single, “I’m Telling You.” Things start to get a bit 2001-Space-Odyssey-esque around the 1-minute mark but fade back into glimpses of the band performing a live set in Ypsilanti. 

The ensemble blending these shoegazey surf riffs and soulful rhythms/vocals are Stephen Stewart, Taijah Johnson, Tony Durocher, and Nick Van Huis. You can follow them on Facebook for updates and show announcements.