''Wake Up'' is the debut album by indie pop band

Youngblood Hawke ''Youngblood Hawke'' is a 1962 novel by American writer Herman Wouk about the rise and fall of a talented young writer of hardscrabble Kentucky origin who briefly becomes the toast of literary New York City. The plot was suggested by the life o ...

. It was released on April 23, 2013 exclusively on

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and then released to other digital retailers and stores on April 30, 2013.

Background

On February 26, 2013
PureVolume
posted an article containing tour and album information. The album title was inspired by 22-year-old Danny McGuire, a friend of the band members. One day he was riding his bike home and was hit by a drunk driver, putting McGuire into a coma before dying. Youngblood Hawke wrote their song "Dannyboy" for him.

Promotion and singles

" We Come Running" is the first single off of ''Wake Up'', released online August 13, 2012 then on the EP the next day. The song has charted in many different countries, peaking at #7 on the US

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart (#46 on the year-end US Alternative Charts) and #17 on the main Australian music sales chart, as well as many others. "Stars (Hold On)" was released as the second single off the album, accompanied by a music video. A remix EP was released to iTunes on September 24, 2013. The original demo for "Dannyboy" was released as a promotional single on February 8, 2013 and the album version was made available for streaming on April 16, 2013. A music video was released on August 9, 2013 on Vevo.

Critical reception

''Wake Up'' was met with mixed reviews from critics. According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album received an average review score of 57/100, based on 9 reviews. Matt Collar of Allmusic gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5, calling it an "infectious, bombastic party album perfect for the summer months" filled with "dancey, often hummable melodic pop songs". Paul V. of ''

Frontiers Frontiers may refer to: * Frontier, areas near or beyond a boundary Arts and entertainment Music * ''Frontiers'' (Journey album), 1983 * ''Frontiers'' (Jermaine Jackson album), 1978 * ''Frontiers'' (Jesse Cook album), 2007 * ''Frontiers'' ( ...

'' gave the album a positive review, saying " 'Wake Up'' isthe kind of record you want to blare out of your car windows while breaking the speed limit on the freeway." Robert Johnson of ''Houston Music Review'' gave the album a positive review, saying "''Wake Up'' is everything a great album should be. It's dynamic yet consistent, catchy yet complex, and extremely good." Mark Graham of

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reviewed ''Wake Up'', comparing the band to Passion Pit and Walk the Moon and said, "

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

is chock full of shimmery, upbeat, immensely positive tracks." Kevin Catchpole of Popmatters gave the album a 6/10 score, calling it "mostly satisfying" and saying that "style-studious feel permeating this album points out how it is both a great beginning and a bit derivative". Paul Mardles of '' The Observer'', in a 3-star review, called the band "relentlessly chirpy and inclusive" but said "strip away the euphoria and there's not much going on". Harriet Gibsone of '' The Guardian'' echoed these sentiments in her two-star review, saying "Youngblood Hawke's debut rings loud with euphoria, but has little emotional impact."

Track listing

*"We Come Running" and "Stars (Hold On)" feature vocals from the West Los Angeles Children's Choir.

Release history

Charts

References

External links

Youngblood Hawke
{{Authority control 2013 debut albums Albums produced by Matt Squire