Cult of Youth

Love Will Prevail (Sacred Bones)

The second album from this Brooklyn collective comes from an undeniably dark place. Gothic and industrial overtones commingle with eclectic neo-folk exploding with strategic punk rage. The register of Sean Ragon’s brogue resides somewhere in the vicinity of Nick Cave and Michael Gira, yet underneath the stomping, rolling rhythmic accompaniment, his breathless intensity can’t help but exude lightness. You can decipher hints of perfect pop in the subtle but effective horn arrangement augmenting the slow-build tribal thunder of “Man and Man’s Ruin.” Ragon’s vision appears too vast to be constrained by black fingernails clawing at nostalgia, and when “Garden of Delights” trudges ever deeper into the mud of martial despair, nihilism appears to carry the day. Suddenly, Ragon abruptly informs us that love will prevail. Jarring juxtapositions are precisely what make this a unique article. (Sun., Black stage, 1:30pm)

***.5

This article appears in November 2 • 2012.

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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.