Album Review: Angel in Realtime by Gang of Youths

y'know it's time that we grow old and do some shit Gang of Youths have grown up. By no means is this meant to cast their earlier work as childish or immature; if The Positions is a little rough around the edges, the blunt sense of humour in Go Farther in Lightness a touch overdone in that recognisably Australian way, surely that's a significant part of their charm. But angel in realtime sees a band that's more weary and worldly, a charge led by Dave Le'aupepe's album-long narrative about uncovering the true history and tragedy of his recently deceased father's life.

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Music about the death of a loved one doesn't usually sound this joyous. Listen to some of the most acclaimed indie rock records about loss and grief from the last few years -- Mount Eerie's A Crow Looked at Me, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Ghosteen, Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell -- and you're in for beautifully devastating meditations on what it means to lose a person you love. That's not the case with Gang of Youths' angel in realtime. The Australian rock band's third album revolves around singer David Le'aupepe making sense of his life after the death of his father, Teleso "Tattersall" Le'aupepe.

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David Le'aupepe, frontman of Australian five-piece Gang of Youths, held his father in such high esteem that throughout his band's ascent at home, and later across stages all over the globe, he would sing his father's praises. One of their best-loved songs, "Magnolia," from their debut album, 2015's The Positions, is as much a dedication to his dad--an avid gardener--as it was about Le'aupepe's 2014 suicide attempt. Their whole second album, 2017's Go Farther In Lightness, is fused with his father's presence in a myriad of ways.

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Gang of Youths seem like an anachronism in a time when major labels are busy scouting the next big genre-defying bedroom pop sound. Similar to their modern counterparts The War on Drugs, the London-based via Sydney group wear their pomp brightly. The sweeping splendor of which they operate recalls the golden age of the L.A. studio scene during the 80s, an era where savvy producers could smell a hit a mile away and place their bets hoping to score the next big success story.

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