“It’s good to get out the house!” shouted a sweaty and triumphant Alex Korakianitis to a packed-out crowd at Van Winkle’s. It was indeed. There’s nothing quite like the excitement of discovering a new band rising through Glasgow’s indie scene, and Youth for Sale are making waves.
With a mix of new material, songs from their 2021 EP “I Feel Fine” and unreleased fan favourites like “I Think I’m in Love”, this set was exactly the energetic whirlwind that everyone needed to kick off their afternoon at Tenement Trail.
For many people wandering into Van Winkle’s for their first set of the day, Youth For Sale were a complete surprise. While their set started to a crowd of family and friends, the venue reached capacity within two songs, and what’s not to love? Hearts were won over as lead singer, Alex dove into the crowd, created a dance circle for himself, and then thrust his mic onto an unsuspecting audience member and wailed a harmonica solo into it with an enthusiasm that would make you think he was shredding a guitar.
The band’s influences are clear in their sound. With jangly guitar lines reminiscent of The Cure’s more upbeat tracks, a shoegaze attitude, and a dreamy, droning synths like a lovechild between Lorde’s “Pure Heroine” and Joy Division, there was something for everyone. The crowd ranged from teenagers to a group of men in their mid-sixties who appeared halfway through the set and ended up cheering louder than anyone else.
Currently, Youth for Sale are going from strength to strength, from winning best soundtrack at the HB Film Festival for their work on the short film “Gomorrah”, to a string of gigs at King Tut’s, the band are part of a constantly evolving wave of musicians coming up in Glasgow.
Compared to their other performances, you can see the band growing in confidence and style, with lead guitarist Billy McFaul branching out to bass and synth, and singer and keyboardist Naomi McKay powering through their new single “Danny’s Car”. The stand-out moment of their set was their cover of Pulp’s “Babies”, with bassist and singer David Carruthers taking the mic and leaving you feeling you truly were in the presence of the Jarvis Cocker of Cambuslang.
You can catch Youth for Sale headlining Sleazy’s on the 16th of December and they’re currently in the process of recording new music. If you still want more, local filmmaker Aaron McIntyre is working on a documentary about the rise of the band.
So, to any nay-sayers who believe that the music scene in Glasgow isn’t what it was, take it from that cheering group of men in their sixties, the youth have it in safe hands.
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