Young Fathers' White Men Are Black Men Too is a gargantuan, fearless record. It’s a celebration, a rebuttal, a call to action; a dance party that won’t for a single minute let you rest.
What White Men Are Black Men Too is, is something as wholly unique as it is referential.
None of it should coalesce, but it does. White Men Are Black Men Too is a perfect storm of influences and talent that make for an unforgettable album.
White Men Are Black Men Too demands you get out from behind your computer screen, start a proper conversation, and then dance until the world makes a bit more sense.
Like DEAD before it, White Men… is an elusive beast. It’s more immediate, more instantly gratifying and more technically proficient, but there are also dark, difficult corners which hint at hidden terror.
Young Fathers had nothing to prove in 2015, which makes White Men Are Black Men Too such a start to finish joy to listen to. Even the tail end of the record is packed with surprises - but then again, what did you expect?
The sound is raw, yet dense and intense, each track a microdrama of shifting textures and competing motifs.
Young Fathers' alarm at being boxed in has led them to make an uncompromising, and, yes, prize-worthy pop statement.
Mad and all-consuming, this is music for disillusioned youth with enough wry wordplay to back it up. In all its angst and menace, you can't help but feel liberated.
It’s trippy and disorientating and yet always maddeningly catchy; a faded photograph of a pop album.
White Men Are Black Men Too suggests Young Fathers are quintessentially ahead of their time, even when their music is tight, attractive, and vital enough to be enjoyed today.
It’s triumphant music for the hyperactive, plural city; it’s confrontational as a means to achieving communality, with no particular loyalties except to an anonymous, shifting collective of people who all want the same thing as Young Fathers—to be one thing, then the next, then the next.
One must show an unusual amount of tolerance for the high end of the audio spectrum to get through White Men Are Black Men Too.
these guys are slowly becoming one of my favorite bands. they're the kings of making me go: "what the fuck was that? ok im gonna re-listen cuz i have no fucking clue what that was. oh i get it now, cool." (this experience has happened around 20 times so far)
Black History Month 19:
I loved the ambition taken on this album sonically, and lyrically, but something about it pisses me off and I can’t pinpoint exactly why. Most glaring problem is the mixing not being my favorite as it has that unfinished feel I hate. Or something about the vocal performance to me doesn’t work for this project. I don’t know, this was a hard listen.
1 | Still Running 3:08 | 85 |
2 | Shame 4:09 | 89 |
3 | Feasting 2:39 | 79 |
4 | 27 2:27 | 87 |
5 | Rain or Shine 3:49 | 87 |
6 | Sirens 3:00 | 83 |
7 | Old Rock n Roll 3:11 | 87 |
8 | Nest 3:17 | 89 |
9 | Liberated 2:55 | 87 |
10 | John Doe 2:52 | 87 |
11 | Dare Me 2:39 | 87 |
12 | Get Started 4:47 | 88 |
#7 | / | The Skinny |
#9 | / | The Guardian |
#16 | / | Variance |
#18 | / | musicOMH |
#19 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#22 | / | FasterLouder |
#22 | / | MOJO |
#35 | / | Uncut |
#39 | / | NME |
#44 | / | The Needle Drop |