Untamed Youth

  • Untamed Youth
  • Some Kinda Fun!! (Norton) 1988 
  • More Gone Gassers from the Untamed Youth!!! (Norton) 1990 

From the clothes they sport and the cars they drive to the design of their record jackets and the music inside — yeah, from any angle but that of real time, the Untamed Youth are a ’60s band. In an era of drum machines, Fairlights and Exposé, many might find the concept of a hotrod/surf combo from Columbia, Missouri to be frivolous or downright silly. But the fact is this hearse-driven quartet has made two LPs unrivaled in recent memory for pure dancing and drinking enjoyment. Authentic co-production by Billy Miller (Zantees/Kicks/Norton/A-Bones) and Andy Shernoff (Dictators) captures the supercharged atmosphere created whenever the Untamed Youth fill a teen club or tavern. Why debate the modern relevance of motorbikes, girls, guitars, Pabst Blue Ribbon, bikinis, and Elly May Clampett? Their praises may have been sung before, but rarely so eloquently.

[Scott McCaughey]