Youth Lagoon is the pseudonym of Boise, Idaho dream pop musician Trevor Powers. He debuted in 2011 off The Year of Hibernation under Fat Possum Records & has since put out Wondrous Bughouse, Savage Hills Ballroom, Capricorn albeit under his own name & Heaven’s a Junkyard through the label aside from Mulberry Violence being released independently. 2 years after what’s considered to be his best work since the debut, Trevor’s looking to level up on his 7th LP.
“Neighborhood Scene” ponders if he even belongs in a country house to get us started whereas “Speed Freak” works in elements from alternative dance, synthpop & new rave music singing about his problems disappearing through every mountain he can steer. “Football” fuses indie pop, soft rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic pop & dream pop observing Mary’s faith wearin’ thin like an old shoe sole while “Gumshoe” blends indie rock & baggy to sing that the summer taught him life is a baseball bat to the jaw.
Moving forward with “Seersucker”, we have Trevor letting everyone out there know he’s doing alright leading into “Lucy Takes a Picture” bringing indie pop, chamber pop & neo-psychedelia singing about walking the cold night Earth & catching a breeze. “Perfect World” suggests to ignore the call since the roulette ball was out of grace just before the indie/chamber pop hybrid “My Beautiful Girl” serves as an ode to the woman in his life.
“Canary” truly sets off the encore of Rarely Do I Dream by offering a blissfully calming atmosphere to the table instrumentally with his friends living in his head these days while “Parking Lot” sings about letting him cruise for the spot rather than letting him lose. “Saturday Cowboy Manitee” prior to the “Home Movies (1989-1993)” outro finishes the album refusing to fake his love.
Maybe the most comprehensive & audacious album that Trevor has crafted to date, Rather Do I Dream primarily composes itself as a treasure trove of home movies, twangy fuzz guitars, sun-bleached synths, classical pianos, blown-out drums & his spellbinding melodies feeling like an old photograph that’s been reanimated in a strange & distant future showing influences of indie pop, dream pop, bedroom pop, alternative dance, synthpop, new rave, soft rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic pop, indie rock, baggy & chamber pop.
Score: 4.5/5
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