NYC post-punk outfit YOU. may have a heart that beats for Detroit (vocalist and founding member Trever Millay and synth/drum programmer Brad Taormina both hail from there), but the soul of their music stretches far beyond the Midwest. Sunchaser is their third record, and first for Dais, and also their first to feature their expanded lineup of guitarist Scott Kiernan and bassist Lee Lichtsinn. YOU.’s music up to this point has always pitted its more reflective elements against the austerity of electronics, not so much as to create a warm sound as to invite the listener in as respite from the cold. Sunchaser refines those qualities, almost to the point of reinvention. There are humans, and humanity, beneath the shell, and YOU. makes the most of the studio environment to bring this across. Tracks like “Breaking Collapse” and the title track push simple, effective melodies in the face of austerity, and make the stone walls collapse, beaming with hope in the face of adversity, while still retaining a distant, reserved presence. Opening track “Feral” gallops along the loose swing of Taormina’s drum machine, evoking Suicide’s pulse and using it to somewhat brighter means. The entirety of Sunchaser was recorded by Sean Ragon (Cult of Youth), and his previous work with YOU. informs the care he put into the production, rendered soft and discreet, the sound of systems working thanklessly in the dead of night to keep us alive and safe.
