Youth Group

Youth Group
Youth Group-concert in Vancouver, Canada in 2005
Background information
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock
Years active	1996–2009 (hiatus)
Labels	Ivy League Records Epitaph Records ANTI- World's Fair
Website	Official website
Members	Toby Martin Danny Lee Allen Cameron Emerson-Elliott Patrick Matthews
Past members	Andy Cassell Paul Murphy

Youth Group is a rock band based in Newtown, Sydney, Australia. As of 2012, the band is signed to Ivy League Records.^[1] The band has released four albums in Australia, with the three latest albums gaining worldwide release.

History

Youth Group formed in Sydney in the late 1990s. The founding members of the band were Toby Martin, on rhythm guitar and vocals, Danny Lee Allen, on drums, Andy Cassell, on bass guitar, and Paul Murphy, on lead guitar. Current lead guitarist, Cameron Emerson-Elliott, and bassist, Patrick Matthews, joined in 2004. While the band had always had a dedicated following in the inner-suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, and frequently supported major acts like Elliott Smith and The Strokes, the band's sales career had been unremarkable until the 2006 release of the single Forever Young.

Individual members

Principal songwriter, Martin, is the grandson of Hungarian-born Australian poet, David Martin. Founding bass player, Cassell, retired from bass duties in 2003 to concentrate on being one of three partners in the Ivy League Records label and the Winterman & Goldstein band management agency (Youth Group's Australian record label and management, respectively). Cassell is a relative of Australian Test cricketer Geoff Dymock. Founding guitarist, Paul Murphy, left the band in 2003 due to creative differences. Cameron Emerson-Elliott played guitar with Sydney punkers John Reed Club in the late-1990s and has known Martin since their school days in Canberra, Australia, at Narrabundah College; at the college, the pair wrote songs together as "The Morris Brothers". Patrick Matthews played bass in The Vines before joining Youth Group. Versatile Sydney musician, Johnno Lattin (also of "La Huva"), played bass in the band during the Skeleton Jar period around 2003. Allen also plays guitar as part of the revolving line-up of Sydney "garage rock" outfit, The City Lights.

Toby Martin of Youth Group

Martin relocated to Sydney from Canberra in 1996 and Youth Group formed shortly afterward.^{[citation needed]} The band's first show was in November 1997 at the Warren View Hotel in the inner Sydney suburb of Enmore. At this stage, Allen had played drums for approximately two months.

Sound

Built around the pure vocals of Martin and clean production of Wayne Connolly, the sound of Youth Group is reminiscent of indie rock artists such as Teenage Fanclub, Pavement and Death Cab For Cutie. All members' taste in music contributed enormously to their organic indie rock (with a twist of country) sound. However it is Martin's insightful and empathetic lyrics which distinguish Youth Group from comparable bands. On Skeleton Jar in particular, Toby's vignettes were based around the emotional dynamics of his characters. ^{[citation needed]}

Urban and Eastern

The band's first album, Urban & Eastern, was released in 2000.

Epitaph Records

The band met success when a series of chance happenings lead Epitaph Records boss Brett Gurewitz to hear their second album, Skeleton Jar in 2004 and release it in the U.S. in 2005. Despite sounding nothing like the California punk that Epitaph is widely known for, the support of a US label was the crucial break that Youth Group needed to find a wider audience. In 2003 the band played at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas and performed on 4 dates with The Vines and The Music on a US West Coast tour. But it was a chance to support Death Cab for Cutie in 2005 on a coast to coast US tour that saw their profile rise most quickly internationally.

Their single "Forever Young", a cover of the 1984 song by Alphaville, was used in the television show The O.C. and heavily featured in promos for Australian TV station Channel Ten at the beginning of 2006. The song debuted on the Australian charts at No. 2 in March 2006, and eventually peaked at No. 1. It was also No. 1 in the first ever digital download chart. During 2006, they supported Coldplay in their sold-out tour of Australia.

In July 2006 the band released their third album, Casino Twilight Dogs, which features "Forever Young", along with the album's second single, "Catching & Killing". On 24 July 2006, Casino Twilight Dogs debuted at #10 in the ARIA Album Charts.^[2]

They supported the Kings Of Leon and Interpol on their 2008 tours of Australia.

There is a widely circulated theory in the music community that the band name Youth Group is a clever twist on the name of the Scottish indie rock band Teenage Fanclub, whom vocalist Toby Martin has cited as a major musical influence during his childhood.^{[citation needed]}

Youth Group won a 2006 ARIA award for "Breakthrough Single" for "Forever Young".

In 2007, the song "Daisy Chains" was featured on the CW show "One Tree Hill" episode 4.16 "You Call it Madness, but I Call it Love".

In 2011, the song "Forever Young" was featured on the series finale of the ABC Family show "Greek".

They released their fourth album The Night Is Ours in July 2008 through Ivy League in Australia and in April 2009 on Worlds Fair Records in the US. The song "What is A Life" from The Night Is Ours was featured on The CW show Gossip Girl episode "The Bonfire of the Vanity".

Youth Group toured the US twice in 2009 before moving into an extended break. Though the band are still on good terms, they are focusing on other projects. Martin released a solo album, Love's Shadow, in July 2012 on Ivy League Records. Drummer Danny lives in New York and tours with We Are Scientists and plays with Brooklyn band, The Drums.

In 2011 Skeleton Jar made No. 98 on Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time (Industry List).^[3]

Discography

Albums

• Urban & Eastern (14 May 2001; Re-Release 17 July 2006) (IVLCD019; Re-Release IVY044)
• Skeleton Jar (22 March 2004; Re-Release 25 July 2005) (IVY025; Re-Release IVY037)
• Casino Twilight Dogs (17 July 2006) (IVY043; Limited Edition IVY042) No. 10 AUS
• The Night Is Ours (30 June 2008) (IVY064) No. 66 AUS

Singles

Early singles:

• "Weekender" (November 1998) (004IVLSPCD)
  1. "Weekender"
  2. "Bitter and Heartbroken"
  3. "Trouble for Skinhead"
• "Country Tour" (February 1999) (006IVLSPCD)
  1. "Country Tour"
  2. "There's Only One Way to Say 'I Love You'"
  3. "Spry Griever"
  4. "Country Tour" (Unabridged)
• "We are Mean" (August 1999) (IVL5009633)
  1. "We are Mean" - 2:54
  2. "Polo" - 3:20
  3. "Spender & Casey" - 2:27
• "Interface" (November 1999) (IVL50114)
  1. "Interface"
  2. "Favourite Thing"
  3. "Ladies of the Renaissance"

From Urban & Eastern:

• "Happiness' Border" (July 2000) (IVLCS015)
  1. "Happiness' Border"
  2. "12:35 and I've Missed My Stop"
  3. "The Graduate"
  4. "Marlon Brando "
• "Guilty" (February 2001) (IVLCS020)
  1. "Guilty"
  2. "How Will I Explain This to My Parents?"

From Skeleton Jar:

• "Shadowland" (November 2003) (IVY021)
  1. "Shadowland" - 3:36
  2. "Rosie and the Sea" - 3:01
  3. "For the Night" - 4:10
  4. "Waiting for a Bus" - 2:25
• "Baby Body" (2004)

From Casino Twilight Dogs:

• "Forever Young" (February 2006) (IVY041) No. 1 AUS (Platinum)
• "Catching & Killing" (August 2006) (IVY045) No. 44 AUS
• "Daisychains" (February 2007) (download only)
• "Sorry" (May 2007) (download only)

From The Night Is Ours:

• "Two Sides" (April 2008)
• "All This Will Pass" (September 2008)
• "In My Dreams" (December 2008)

Compilation appearances

• Music from the OC: Mix 5 (2005, Warner Bros.)
• Warped Tour 2005 Tour Compilation (2005)
• Punk-O-Rama 10 (2005)
• Coastal Chill 05 (2004)

Music videos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Youth Group.

• My Youth Pub
• Official Youth Group website
• Youth Group on Myspace
• Ivy League Records
• Youth Group Interview at U.S. based Truepunk.com
• Interview with Rob Townsend
• Youtube _ making of The Night is Ours on Harbour
• Epitaph
• / www.laist.com/meet_youth_group-Dedicated Aussies
• / www.anti.com
• mtv.com