song: "Deterritory" - Young Jesus
words: Michael Brooks
On the excellent S/T, rereleased at the beginning of the year by Saddle Creek, Young Jesus began to come into their own as their music grew more esoteric and improvisational. “Deterritory”, the deconstructed and panoramic lead single off their forthcoming LP The Whole Thing is Just Here, finds the Los Angeles by way of Chicago band operating in a space all their own.
Sonically, it’s as knotty as it is chaotic—fragments of noise, jittery indie rock, and avant-garde jazz seamlessly spilling into one another—it’s a track that self-destructs every other minute just to piece itself back together in an entirely different way. Frontman John Rossiter is more of a contortionist than a vocalist, straining his voice in each and every way imaginable. Halfway through there’s a sweeping crescendo, which is bolstered by an anthemic whoa from Rossiter that sounds like Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” being covered by Deafhaven. Or take the closing seconds of the track, where Rossiter shrieks “It’s not enough to hate the world we live within”, and for a brief moment everything sounds like it’s about to collapse. It’s a lot to try and take in all at once, but when it finally sinks in, there’s nothing else quite like it.