Young Widows - Old Wounds

The drumming on this Young Widows album is unique because in essence it is very minimalist, but there is so much power behind it you don't really notice. Take the first track for example, Took a Turn. The drums come in nice and solid with a slow and steady rock beat, but Jeremy McMonigle chops it up and drops out parts here and there, accenting the few hits he makes. I found a Youtube video of someone playing the drums along to this part, and he does a great job of coming in and out at the perfect time, so you can see what I'm talking about.

The tension in McMonigle's playing is held in perfect balance with short bursts of release, it's like he's riding his drums at the rodeo and trying to keep them roped in the whole time. Every shot is so forceful and precise, there is not a hint of excessiveness in his playing.

He also has a keen ability to throw in things like quick cymbal chokes or off-time rhythms, and in 21st Century Invention we get a little taste of both. You can tell Jeremy is playing a set of drums with massive toms, and I hope that means we're starting to get more into the John Bonham style of a huge drum sound, rather than the trend of the mid-90s to have really tight, quick sounding drums. A drum has a tone and a decay people, and both sound fine if you record them properly. One thing is for sure, McMonigle is beating the piss out of his drums, and no matter how big they are, they sound like their 2 stories high.

I saw Young Widows at the Halifax Pop Explosion probably two years ago, and I saw them blow a roomful of minds. Most people were either there to see Canadian math-rock heroes Metz, or the wild band from Isreal everyone was talking about (Monotonix), but since then I hear mention of the Young Widows set more than either of them.

I hope someday you'll be at some random show where Young Widows is playing and when they start their first song you'll think, "Ok, this is pretty good, I'll stick around." And then they'll kick on their stage lights, and you'll feel like your being blinded by some post-hardcore alien spaceship, and for the next 45 minutes you don't know what the hell is going on, but it's awesome.