Young Hunting - Hazel

Format: 12" Black Vinyl
Run: 500
Design: YH
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Price: $13.00


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Los Angeles quintet Young Hunting's debut full-length album Hazel begins with gentle, lush dream pop and ends with stark, desolate gothic folk. The record, inspired mostly by failed affairs, a divorce, and life in the shadow of LA's show-business culture, took the band two years to produce. Primary songwriters Hari and Ilya first met in 2007, quickly bonding over a shared appreciation for Nick Cave, Jason Molina, Can, and the classic California pop of the 60s and 70s. Tracks for "Hazel" were recorded in various locations around Southern California, including a former ranger's station in the Angeles National Forest, Grandma's Dojo studio in LA's Koreatown, a rented one-bedroom desert house outside of Joshua Tree, and living rooms, garages & guest houses in Echo Park.

Young Hunting is Hari Rex (vocals/guitar), Ilya Mxx (vocals/guitar), Patrick Taylor (bass), Miles Senzaki (drums), and Tim Phillips (keys/trumpet). Hazel was mastered by Nick Carden in the Blue Room (Oakland, California).

Tracklist

01. Young Hunting - Into Yr Mind
02. Young Hunting - Sweet Bird
03. Young Hunting - Maze
04. Young Hunting - Wrecking Ball
05. Young Hunting - Rust
06. Young Hunting - Annabelle
07. Young Hunting - White Light Years
08. Young Hunting - Baby's First Steps
09. Young Hunting - Ride On

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PRESS

"Young Hunting are one of the bands we’ve kept our eyes on since the early days of DN that are yet to release a proper album. Three years in the making, the LA quintet have finished it (“it” is titled Hazel), and as the saying goes: it was worth the wait. You’ll have to wait a little longer to hear it in full (perks of being a blogger), but combine these two new songs Baby’s First Steps and Wrecking Ball with all of this and you’ve basically heard the album (kind of). Soothing, dreamy indie rock, think early Grizzly Bear or Fleet Foxes." - Disco Naivete

"When you have origins in Los Angeles, it's easy to be inspired by the laid-back, sun-kissed lifestyle that represents the city. The dream pop quintet, Young Hunting, has definitely drawn inspiration from their hometown, but adds a greater depth of emotion by also drawing from their particular life experiences." - FILTER Magazine

"If you cringe at the prospect of a summer laden with sunny pop, Young Hunting may be your salvation this year. This five-piece dream team from Los Angeles is set to release their debut LP, Hazel, on Gold Robot Records – and while it may be steeped in California’s flower-power history, Young Hunting cast sepia shades over their lush sound by easing back the tempo and centering in on tragic narratives and sorrowful themes." - Gold Flake Paint

"Young Hunting may just have found the formula for perfect indie-pop music. The Los Angeles quintet have crafted a world of gorgeous woozy-harmonies, shimmering laid-back instrumentation and impecable production. While their music is firmly in an 'indie-pop' bracket it manages to jump effortlessly between dream-pop and gothic influences all retaining the band's distinctive personality which is smothered lovingly across every track." - The 405

"I forgive Young Hunting for making me wait for almost 2 years for a proper full-length and for only releasing a new song every couple of months - but just because the songs they do release are always so damn perfect. The latest of those is the dreamy Maze; I know I’ve basically described all of their songs as “dreamy” or “soothing” so far, but that’s just the way things are. It doesn’t make the song less beautiful." - Disco Naïveté

"I can imagine chilling out in a Laurel Canyon deck hammock to this song. Cold Tecate in my hand, herb smoke swirling through the sunset glows, and the ghosts of yacht-rock gods milling about whispering in the eucalyptus branches." - YVYNYL

"With their woozy harmonies and reverb-soaked guitars, Young Hunting is more in line with the drug-tinged balladry of New Jersey's Real Estate, Seattle's Fleet Foxes or America's, ahem, America." - Los Angeles Times Music Blog

"Young Hunting is Cali-based band that blends molasses-slow dream pop with affectionate vocal harmonies, sounding a bit like a post-grunge Harry Nilsson stuck in slow motion. Cali bands are often associated with a sort of hazy, smokey crawl, which sort of matches the pace of life (and air quality) of LA, and while these dudes are no exception to that rule, their music certainly is exceptional." - I Guess I'm Floating

"Young Hunting’s meticulous fusion of Laurel Canyon swing, sunset-tinged dream-pop and dark reverb is most impressive in their new song “Baby’s First Steps.” Hari Rex and Ilya Mxx’s harmonies are ominous as much as they are soothing while Mike Senzaki’s percussion flirts with Patrick Taylor’s bass lines. “Hazel” still maintains the “folk-gazing” which initially piqued our interest, but the psychedelic molasses they’ve poured into this record makes one delightfully woozy and aroused, especially when Tim Phillips sprinkles in a keyboard or trumpet riff." - Buzzbands

"Brooding sounds with infectious melody layered in is what I keep coming back to." - Sly Vinyl

"There’s sort of a cold English psychedelia feel to this track which contrasts to what most of us think of a ‘dream-pop’. But it does entrance, doesn’t it? It meanders like fog and rolls in waves. The track comes together with a beautifully unsettling vocal harmony before guitars crash all around us. Sand and expectations equally displaced."
- I Guess I'm Floating

"There’s a great deal to be said for carefully crafted pop songs, especially the sort that slowly unfolds. Restraint and all that. Such is the feeling you’ll get when you listen to the first single from the upcoming album from Young Hunting. Their track builds towards the climax, which turns listeners on their ears during the chorus, also adding more musical accompaniment to the rest of the track from it’s first bright burst. Each note has a purpose, allowing the band to maximize their emotional pull." - Austin Town Hall

"Winding and tightly spindled, “Baby’s First Steps” is the perfect reason to be excited for Los Angeles-based Young Hunting debut LP. The track unfurls slowly, almost furtively, with a slinking groove and a simmering beat that builds cautiously amid surgically sharp guitar stabs and a darkly plaintive rhythm. Like the more flowing and (comparatively) upbeat single “Maze” that preceded it, it’s emotive and lushly atmospheric. In other words, this is a band that knows how to set a mood." - Turntable Kitchen

"Los Angeles quintet Young Hunting’s debut full-length album Hazel begins with gentle, lush dream pop and ends with stark, desolate gothic folk. The record, inspired mostly by failed affairs, a divorce, and life in the shadow of LA’s show-business culture, took the band two years to produce. We’ve been thoroughly seduced by these two tracks, Baby’s First Steps and Maze, which are lush, woozy and seductive. They effortlessly evoke a sense of back porch bonhomie and marijuana enhanced well being and who could ask for more than that?" - The Mad Mackerel

"Their lush, dream pop aesthetic combined with lyrical embodiment of failed affairs creates a decadent melancholy that I tend to gravitate towards during my workweek seclusions." - Indie Shuffle

"(T)win visions of a Los Angeles caught somewhere between hopelessness and hope." - 32 ft/second

"The record was recorded over two years across various Californian locations and apparently addresses the darker aspects of living in a place obsessed with celebrity, among other quite depressing things. This track, 'Baby's First Steps', embodies these sentiments with melodramatic vocal harmonies and a soothing, slow-burn rhythm section: equally influenced by seventies pop and the dulcet tones of contemporaries like Shearwater and Grizzly Bear." - Under The Radar

"Young Hunting’s “Maze” effectively captures the quaint atmospheric psych-folk of The Clientele, who incorporate creaky guitars and somber strings on tracks like “Isn’t Life Strange?” and “Bookshop Casanova” to create a wholly haunting sound. Young Hunting are fonder of twinkling keys, as opposed to tugging strings, and it’s especially present on a track like “Maze”, where a dreamily retrospective tone carries throughout. The track shows a very gentle approach, supplemented by a hazy croon that rides on melodic nonchalance." - Obscure Sound

"It was about time for Young Hunting to drop their debut album. Hazel LP will drop on June 11 via Gold Robot Records and the Los Angeles based band made today a small introduction with the amazing song Wrecking Ball. Soft as a touch, relaxing like the sunbeams hitting you in spring and sweet like honey with tea this ’60s-Burt Bacharach inspired dream pop ballad is going to haunt many unprotective souls out there and gain all the love it deserves. There’s no doubt about it." - Sound Injections

"LA’s Young Hunting will be dropping their debut record Hazel June 11th on Gold Robot Records and we have one of it’s gorgeous singles streaming below. “Wrecking Ball” is a breezy West Coast ode that uses a free flowing formula to force you to sway aimlessly. Sounding like a beach-loving Grizzly Bear, the melodies are irresistible and the dreamy nature of it all will have you filled with endless bliss." - Handclap Movement

"An impossibly lush, hazy pop album that manages to evoke memories you haven’t even created yet: sitting in the sun and spinning this LP for countless hours during the coming summer." - OMG Vinyl

"It's hard to make the music Young Hunting demonstrates on Hazel, as there is never a sense of urgency. Rather, the importance is placed on the exact moment the listener occupies second to second. I can't help but keep highlighting the words "ease" and "flourish" while jotting down listening notes. As the record spins, the ease of Hazel is inviting, warming, and ultimately one of the bigger positives of the album - it'll be tough to find a more relaxing spin this year. Pair the ease with these shifting flourishes that come at the listener from all angles, be it a soft drum that prances in unannounced, a bold high electric guitar pluck, or moments of vocal harmony that expand and contract from moment to moment. Hazel is album that in only a week of listening has grown and grown for me. The album, along with its unique laid back style, is slowly becoming one of my favorites of the year." - We Listen For You

"With every subsequent play, “Maze” has grown into one of my favorite psychedelic joys of the year. I’ve been trying to get my ahead around to find the appropriate words to do it justice, but it seems as they all have been used up describing countless similar but lesser brilliant songs. Words like “hazy”, “dreamy”, “soothing” comes to mind, but rarely are these traits so brilliantly manifested as by Young Hunting’s tender melodic melancholia. With small wistful nuances of dreamy nostalgia, “Maze” is psychedelic folk of the highest possible order. Luckily, the LA quintets just finished recording their full-length debut, and if we get a couple of more songs like “Maze”, than get prepared for one hell of a debut." - IFOUNDMUSIC

"Last year, we introduced you to Young Hunting and their slick, magnetic style of dream pop. Their standout track at the time, “Maze”, commanded our attention immediately, and, ever since then, we’ve made it our business to keep an eye on the West Coast band. Now, almost a year later that song is still fresh in our minds (yes, it has that kind of staying power), so much so that we’re posting it here again. But the biggest news to come out of the Hunting camp is that they’re gearing up to release a brand new record featuring the aforementioned tune as well as eight other like-minded charmers. Titled Hazel, it’s due out on June 11th via Bay Area label Gold Robot Records, and courtesy of our friends at HypeMachine, is streaming in its entirety right now! Check it out — it’s sure to be an album to soundtrack many of summer’s pool parties and epic hangs." - The Music Ninja

"In its sonic makeup, Young Hunting is undeniably comfortable with how Hazel is paced and delivered, the rhythms and melodies crafted to fortify both the Rex and Mxx’s vocals and the aesthetic of genteel tenderness with regards to both the subject-matter as well as the musicality of Hazel. It’s an album that plays very well to Young Hunting’s strengths and provides a brilliantly emotive and soothing platform for the band to showcase their talent and promise." - Listen Before You Buy [full album review]

"Hazel is 41 minutes of laid back beauty, hazy melodies and regret filled harmonies blend perfectly and meander along together to stunning effect. It soothes and relaxes but also stirs feeling within and provokes a reaction. It is an album that you can get lost in time and time again and each listen reveals something new, another layer of emotion or element of sound hidden within. It is an album that you will keep coming back to and that, ironically given its inspiration, you are unlikely to ever fall out of love with." - Alphabet Bands [full album review]

"This is such a perfectly composed album; I have a feeling it’ll be on some “Best Of” lists this year. It’s the kind of album that you turn on when there’s nothing else to listen to because you know it won’t disappoint. The orchestral element that is very present throughout the entire album lends a gorgeous accent to an already beautiful and soft indie rock feel. There are obvious influences from genres past — I hear some doo-wop, some R&B, and even some soft surf rock sounds. This genre-bending band has an infectious grasp on music-making — I am enthralled!" - Indie Shuffle

"Many of the tracks on this 2013 vinyl release from Gold Robot Records leave you wanting more, like being on a mild hallucinogen where your only stress is the knowledge that it won’t last forever. Mxx and Rex’s songwriting stands tall with the backbone of drummer Miles Senzaki and bassist Patrick Taylor, and master-of-many-trades Tim Philips fills out the sound with synth, keys and horns. From the throbbing “Rust” to the crooning “Sweet Bird” to the anthemic “Maze,” these are songs that float away and pop. Call it chill wave, psych folk, dream pop — whatever you want. This is Southern California music, brokered at the imaginary crossroads of Twentynine Palms Highway and the PCH." - Street Couch

"Gold Robot continues to roll out solid records, this being a stellar debut by this LA quintet. A recent addition to my collect, was just released June 11th, but steady in my rotation will no doubt climb up the charts before the year ends. Lush, dark, folky, dream-pop album with lead vocalist Hari Rex sounding like he just left Yeasayer for this project. Solid debut worth giving a listen." - Music For Nomes

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