Youth Lagoon, the brainchild of Idaho native Trevor Powers has released his sophomore album Wondrous Bughouse. While his blend of Americana and electronic music may seem intriguing, mixing the two not only turns into a huge musical mess, but claiming an Americana influence seems to be a bit farfetched. The album starts out with “Through The Mind and Back”, an intro that sounds like echoes bouncing off the walls. With an atmospheric vibe to it, the song has an interesting start but at the half way mark it begins to sound cluttered with the rush of sounds that come through the speakers. Power’s audience may become weary of what the rest of the album holds.
Songs like Dropla have hints of piano that sound like an old time piano roll, and listeners finally get a taste of Power’s washed out vocals, which have a parched and nasally quality, making the audience assume that his vocals are added in just to add more sounds. When it comes to lyrical content, Wondrous Bughouse has a theme of mortality, but one would never know it, since Power’s voice sounds faint and too far in the background to get the full grasp of the album’s lyrical message.
While the lo-fi bedroom quality may sit well with listeners, the quality of the album makes it hard for anyone to take Trevor Powers and his music seriously. Due to his different style of music, it will be interesting to see how successful Trevor becomes, but time will only tell. Youth Lagoon is currently on the road supporting Wondrous Bughouse.
