Youth Fountain - Keepsakes & Reminders (2021) Hi-Res

Two years on from the release of his energised debut, Letters To Our Former Selves, songwriter Tyler Zanon is back with YOUTH FOUNTAIN‘s sophomore effort, Keepsakes & Reminders. With co-vocalist Cody Muraro now having moved on to join emo-flavoured pop-punk outfit REAL FRIENDS, Zanon is the lone voice on this record, however, the band’s dual vocal style remains.

The content isn’t a departure from the band’s trademark style either – its soaring, almost painfully emotional pop-punk delivered with heart-string pulling sincerity largely provided by Zanon‘s impassioned vocals. The song-writing is stepped up a notch here, but there’s little in the way of experimentation – YOUTH FOUNTAIN knows what works and don’t want to mess with a winning formula.

And judging by the record’s opener, this going to be one hell of a winner. The intro My Mental Health sets the tone for what’s to come with some of the album’s most heart-wrenching lines, “I poisoned all my drinks/Again and again/Assuming it would help me be a completely different person.” From here, we transition directly into the album’s lead single Century, a huge emotional banger with lyrics destined to be screamed back at Zanon by legions of sweat-soaked fans. What the guitar work lacks in originality it makes up for in enthusiasm, recalling the best moments of THE STORY SO FAR and THE WONDER YEARS. What really sells the track however is Zanon‘s vocals. Capable of being both tender in the softer moments, and raw, almost strained, at its emotional peaks, the palpable sincerity of his vocal performance proves he was always going to be the one and only frontman YOUTH FOUNTAIN ever needed.