''Youth of America'' is the second studio album by American punk rock band Wipers. It was released in 1981 by record label Park Avenue.

Content

The album marked a distinctive change in the band's sound. Compared to its predecessor, ''

Is This Real? ''Is This Real?'' is the debut studio album by the Portland, Oregon-based punk rock band Wipers, originally released on vinyl in January 1980 by Park Avenue Records. The album was reissued on CD by Sub Pop in 1993, augmented by the three tracks ...

'', which was composed mostly of raw, sleek and relatively traditional songs, ''Youth of America'' featured much longer and more complex compositions; the title track alone clocks in at over 10 minutes. According to frontman

Greg Sage Greg Sage (born October 21, 1951) is an American songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, regarded as an important influence on many punk rock and post-punk artists. Sage is best known as the principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist of the infl ...

, this change of pace was a deliberate counter-reaction against the trend of releasing short songs, which many punk bands did at the time. ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'' noted the album's genre as

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

and further described its style as "a six track set of lowly

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

which traverses the cosmos irrespective. Secondly, it's a gothic downer but leavened by motion and momentum thanks to its

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

influences. And lastly it's a grittily real punk record defined by an unerring air of unreality – as unromantic as it is fantastical".

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

has called the record " proto-grunge", and bands such as

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

and

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

have covered their work.

Release and reception

Released in 1981, ''Youth of America'' was, according to Sage, not well received in the United States at the time of its release, but fared better in Europe. In its retrospective review, ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' wrote, "(f)rom its style of production and songwriting to its driving, angular guitar work coupled with anthemic hooks, ''Youth of America'' is as strong and fresh-sounding today as it was 30 years ago". ''The Quietus'' wrote "there may be more essential punk albums out there but never again did the genre sound so searching". ''

Head Heritage Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

'' noted its "enduring legacy". ''Youth of America'' was later reissued on record labels Backbone and Restless, with different covers for each, and on Sage's own Zeno Records as the second disc of the '' Wipers Box Set'', albeit with a different running order to the original vinyl issue.

Legacy

Along with other Wipers records, ''Youth of America'' has since come to be acknowledged as an important album in the development of American underground and independent rock movements of the early 1980s.

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

cited the album as an inspiration, and covered the track "Pushing the Extreme" with Keith Nealy for Wipers tribute album '' Fourteen Songs for Greg Sage and The Wipers''. The title track was covered by

on their 2001 album ''

Electroretard ''Electroretard'' is the thirteenth album by the Melvins, which was released in 2001 through Man's Ruin Records. The album contains an experiment in backmasking ("Shit Storm"), three covers and four reworked versions of old Melvins songs. Althou ...

'' and by

Mission of Burma Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting as ...

on the live album ''

Snapshot Snapshot, snapshots or snap shot may refer to: * Snapshot (photography), a photograph taken without preparation Computing * Snapshot (computer storage), the state of a system at a particular point in time * Snapshot (file format) or SNP, a file ...

''.

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

listed it in his top 50 albums of all time.

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

ranked the title track at No. 173 on their list of "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s" and ranked the album at No. 102 on their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s".

Track listing

Personnel

; Wipers *

– vocals, guitar, piano,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, recording * Brad Davidson – bass guitar, tape operation assistance * Dave Koupal – bass guitar * Brad Naish – drums

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1981 albums Wipers albums