Sorry, there was an error loading your playlist(s).

Sydney band Youth Group's story-to-date reads something like a three-act play. The first act begins in 1998, with founding members Toby Martin and Danny Allen forming an indie rock band that releases its debut album ‘Urban & Eastern’ in 2000. Out of print since 2003, the album is re-released in July 2006 after the band discovers not only are secondhand copies going for up $90 at Redeye Records, but that they themselves no longer have copies. ‘Urban & Eastern’ establishes Youth Group as one of Australia’s best kept underground secrets. Cut to the second act of the play and things aren’t quite as rosy. Occasional shitty gigs, money issues, day jobs and departing members make things a little tough, and it takes the whole of 2003 for the band to get it all together and record its second album, ‘Skeleton Jar’. But what a record it turns out to be. The release of ‘Skeleton Jar’ in April 2004 ushers in the third act, and marks a turning point for the heroes of our play. With the album garnering four and five star reviews, the word on Youth Group begins to spread, and listeners are transformed into true-believers by the skill and warmth of the extraordinary songwriting. Guitarist Cameron Emerson-Elliott (ex The John Reed Club) and bassist Patrick Matthews (ex The Vines) join the cast shortly after the release of ‘Skeleton Jar’, while world-renowned LA record label Epitaph offers the band a US/Europe deal in December 2004, even though they’ve never seen them play live. Tours in the US and UK follow, with American band Death Cab For Cutie becoming fans and offering Youth Group a support slot on a leg of its sold-out US tour in October 2005. It's also thanks to Death Cab guitarist and producer Chris Walla that a copy of 'Skeleton Jar' falls into the hands of the music director of TV show 'The O.C.' Single 'Shadowland' is played on the hit drama, and the reaction is so great that Youth Group is invited by 'The O.C' to put its own stamp on the 80s hit 'Forever Young' for a crucial scene in the show. It's at this point that the tale veers down an unexpected path. Starting out at community radio and JJJ, 'Forever Young' is then used in an O.C promo and suddenly every radio station in the country has added the track. The single goes on to reach #1 on the ARIA singles chart in the first week of April 2006 and achieve platinum sales. And so the stage is set for the band to release its third LP, 'Casino Twilight Dogs', on July 15. Again produced by Wayne Connolly (You Am I, The Vines, Dallas Crane), 'Casino Twilight Dogs' is a career-making record for Youth Group. Tracked in Sydney in December 2005 and February 2006 and with the recording completed and mixed in LA in April 2006, the album follows the examples set by many of the great recordings of the past – recorded live-to-tape wherever possible. 'Forever Young' was recorded as such, and it was this method that informed the album’s concise arrangements.