Hipster Youth - Teenage Elders (2010) [Self-Released] // Grade: B-

Love or loathe Crystal Castles, their use of chiptune samples sort of repositioned the genre, illustrating how 8-bit beats could sound as one element of a larger, hi-fidelity composition. But as good as those samples sound within their work, severing them from the context in which they’re generally created loses much of the specialness of the sound. 19-year-old Aidan Wall (who also releases music as Porn on Vinyl) produces gritty, off-kilter 8-bit bedroom dance under the name Hipster Youth on album Teenage Elders.

With track titles bearing names like “Pop Song For Those With Short Attention Spans”, “I Lost My Corpse Paint” and “Super Fun Hipster Suicide Party”, Wall  brings a observational humor to his tracks. They feel lighthearted, approachable but also carry with them a measure of loner self-doubt. Aidan Wall is that kid with the messy hair in the back of class inking out a graphic novel when he should be taking notes. Teenage Elders embodies that notion of creative escape from the mundaneness of reality, and for anyone who’s ever built a world within their own head and decided to live there awhile, Wall is easily identifiable as a kindred spirit.

As a whole, the album possesses little continuity. Some tracks are barely over a minute (“Interlude [Yes, I did drink too much. I must get out of here]“, “Things I Should Say”) while “I Lost My Corpse Paint” clocks in at nearly nine. Stylistically, Wall leaps between sounds which does nothing to help the album’s flow, but establishes an environment of wild unpredictability that is energizing. “Pop Song For Those With Short Attention Spans” pairs far-off, light typewriter-sounding beats with woozy vocals then jars you out of dreaming and into “Little Lost Bear” which sounds like an synth organ-led final boss showdown. “Myself Or Something” emulates gritty reverb with digital static while both “Super Fun Hipster Suicide Party” and “Things I Should Say” kick up the pace offering speaker-blown 8-bit dance parties to the mix.

The sound quality overall is amateur at best. The collection of tracks don’t transition well, with volume level discrepancies that are often jarring jumps. But neither polish nor high production values are the point. Teenage Elders is exciting. You are never sure what will fly into your ears next, but you can count on it being highly creative, and, fun.

You can download Teenage Elders for FREE at Hipster Youth’s Bandcamp or by using the player below.

- Scrooge McFuck