I Don't Wanna Take Too Much by The Brazen Youth is a lot of things. Beginning in an almost wide eyed artistically Off- Broadway-esque meets 70's art rock sort of way, the song steps into askew poetry backed by heavy handed syncopated piano hammered (cooly) in rhythm & blues infused meets baroque pop ways. The lyrics are dreamy and or weird (depending on who you ask) but wildly interesting and the vocal presentation self aware and earnestly serious. That is to say, while the song (material) is steeped in this kind of avant garde pop motif, I get the sense the boys aren't necessarily going for this aesthetic... it just is the way it is. If this is the case, I like that. This is not to say that Nicholas Lussier and Charles Dahike do not have artistic vision, they obviously do and are wildly talented and prolific beyond their years but I get the intuitive sense that they don't over reach for this aesthetic. They are simply cut from the same artistic cloth.
Their Press notes, which I will paste down below, suggest that they met in eighth grade. Building and bonding their friendship and artistic path in Lyme, Connecticut and drawing inspiration from a 300 year old farmhouse. I don't know how many years transpired between grade school and their musical forays and now and such but when I hear stories like this I appreciate how fate shapes art and peoples lives. Their first record called "The Ever Dying Bristlecone Man" came out in 2016. They added their friend Micah Ruben and tours followed.
Their journey (that you can check out more fully in the aforementioned press notes) has lead them to their Album entitled "15 Billion Eyes" due out on September 19th (2019). Awesome.
Speaking to the motivation behind I Don’t Wanna Take Too Much, The Brazen Youth offer:
“15 Billion Eyes” felt like a humbler approach to a record, and we think the title, “I Don’t Wanna Take Too Much”, speaks to that. In the studio, we stripped back, dropped the metronome, and pursued a live approach. We are each finding our own corners in the band, especially as instrumentalists. Time spent on the road has molded our individual styles and band dynamic — and for the first time, we’re seeing that manifest in a studio setting.
-Robb Donker
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
The Brazen Youth began with an unlikely union of two eighth graders, Nicholas Lussier and Charlie Dahlke. Based on a 300-year-old farmhouse in Lyme, CT, the pair developed their folk-based sensibilities in a space that was unlimited in creative power. They spent their formative years between the musty bookshelves of the farm, crafting a record that came to be called The Ever Dying Bristlecone Man (2016), which was pure evidence of the ambition and imagination of both songwriters.
With a new surge in online followers, Nick and Charlie’s good friend Micah Rubin joined the band, creating a complete lineup that would tour the United States throughout 2017 and 2018. During this time, the trio was developing a more polished, cohesive LP in their self-constructed studio that would release in 2018, called Primitive Initiative. Following a more expansive period of touring, including dates with friends Spendtime Palace, The Brazen Youth’s forthcoming EP, titled 15 BILLION EYES was completed. Previous works made use of darker textures, 15 BILLION EYES is more inventive, playful, and dynamic than any past work; and the songwriting is more distinct and focussed. Mixed by Sam Griffin Owens (Sam Evian), the record has a unique warmth that is simultaneously familiar and refreshingly new. On the wake of the record release and a long string of tour dates, The Brazen Youth remains a brotherhood like no other – a creative force which constantly seeks to challenge itself and shed its old skin.
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