Cult of Youth
(Sacred Bones Records)

Remember when you were a kid and you'd fuck up and get grounded? Then you'd really show 'em who's boss by sneaking out the window every night at midnight so you could wander around the neighboring cemetery smoking your mom's cigarettes and cursing her for not understanding all of your pain and anguish? Cult of Youth channel that dark­ness. Some have called it goth-folk-punk, others pagan rock. Either way, I don't think I've ever heard anything quite like it. Frontman Sean Ragon, one-time bassist for Love as Laughter, growls and howls over violinist Christiana Key's soaring strings and layered melodies that recall Ennio Morricone and more traditional country and folk structures. The juxtaposition makes for a pretty unsettling melodrama. Added cred points go to bassist Micki Pellerano, who is both a performance artist/painter/filmmaker and a real-deal occult scholar.