by Nathan Cardiff

What a strange and lovely treat from the Youngest Children EP, Midwest Quest. An eclectic record such as this deserves an eclectic landscape and what better place than the unique Midwest for their journey. The duo relishes in ambient sounds in songs that I hesitate to call interludes (“Parakeet Time,” “Ghost Radio,” and the massive “Wholy Rocks”), because of their importance to the record; serving as more than just transitions. These tracks are weird, wild experiments (including the first and final tracks) filled with samples and hush tones that force you to listen close. Youngest Children let the record go all over the map. The shimmering pop of “The Ground Opened” has a gleaming acoustic guitar and terrific vocals. Later, we get the hillbilly harmonies of “One Hand Clapping” with some beautiful banjo work.

The song that best sums up Midwest Quest is definitely “Call of Yoonya.” It constantly shifts genre, tone, and tempo with its hard edge percussion, rocking guitar, and finally 8-bit bleeps and bloops springing up sporadically. What I love about the record is that you never want to skip through any part of a track (I dare you to); even in the last ten seconds of a song, the band will surprise with you something entirely different from what previously was occurring in the track. A killer experience for the middle of America and beyond.

Favorite Tracks: “The Ground Opened” & “Call of Yoonya,” & “Wholy Rocks”

by Nathan Cardiff

Editor’s note: You can see Youngest Children play Saturday night at Forever Fest.