Young Jesus
L.A.-based art rock quartet Young Jesus (not to be confused with the Logic song by that name) sounds kind of like if Lana Del Rey had been born a guy (which some online commentators who remain incensed about her alleged plastic surgery would still have you believe is true). There’s a Xanax-drenched drone to singles like “Deterritory” that oozes into a liquid mantra once the lyrics start repeating over and over, “It’s not enough to hate the world we live within.” Singer-guitarist John Rossiter, originally from Chicago and a bookstore clerk who also writes for the Los Angeles Review of Books, has clearly worn out the grooves on his old World Party, Tears for Fears, and especially PM Dawn records. Keyboardist Eric Shevrin favors dense prog-rock backdrops, bassist-songwriter Marcel Borbon seems to be a Jaco devotee, and Kern Haug is right out of the Ed Cassidy school of jazz-rock drumming, alternately powerful and delicate, sometimes all at once on different skins. Their 2015 debut Grow/Decompose and a sophomore followup from 2017, S/T, were both basically singles albums. However, their followup, last year’s The Whole Thing Is Just There, is a full-scale album-oriented mini-rock opera of sorts, closing with a constantly shifting and morphing track called “Gulf” that runs over 20 minutes and could have easily been slipped onto one of Rick Wakeman’s latter-day albums without anybody noticing. Judging from setlists posted online, their May 1 appearance at UCSD’s all-ages Che Café may include deep cuts from their earliest emo-leaning EPs, Young Innocent & Harry and Maybe Baby, as well as 2016’s Void as Lob.