Okay, I know what you’re thinking. A brass band? Is this like John Philip Sousa stuff or what? Youngblood Brass Band is not most definitely not what I traditionally think of when I hear the term brass band. Think about the horn section of your favorite horn band, through in a tuba for good measure, hip-hop vocals and a sort of drum corps percussion section. Piss them off and you have Youngblood. No John Philip Sousa here, but I’m at a loss to explain exactly what it is and I would love to see it live.

The album opens with March and gives you the impression that you just bought a drum corps album - tight snares doing a nice intro. Then something goes haywire and hip-hop vocals appear from nowhere. Really good hop-hop vocals. Then the trumpets start screaming and a sax kicks in. Never veering far from this underlying drum line. What’s the tuba doing here? What a fantastic way to open a very eclectic album.

Nuclear Summer opens with a nice trombone solo, again with very subtle hip-hop vocals. Things are going nicely, then this kind of just barely latin things starts and goes away. Now were at a typical hip-hop line, but for some reason it really works for me. Usually I’m moving on, but this really works. Listen to the words.

Waiver is a nice romp that starts like something from a modern big-band. More on that later. Excellent song that works wonderfully and shows of some of the more subtle aspects of Youngblood. Subtle is relative by the way...

JEM starts as what could be a modern big-band chart. Mournful trumpets with additional brass layering in. Gorgeous chords here The line grows more and more sophisticated and I have visions of the Kenton Big Band or Maria Schneider. Then it ends and immediately segues into a hip-hip reel called Dead Man Stomping that again works for me. The tuba is a nice touch again.

But You Can’t Run opens in a way that causes me to wonder what the percussion section of this band looks like. It really sounds like something from a drum corps. However, there are things going on that are definitely done with a drum kit elsewhere on the album. Regardless, But You Can’t Run is just a great latin style band number.

Then there is Thanks, which takes us directly towards what you might think a brass band would be. An amazingly good brass band with a drum kit. After all of the wanderings of this album, somehow Thanks works as a closing song. Sort of a thank you for coming along for the ride.

I am suddenly a huge fan. If this is the future of spoken word music, count me in. If you’re not a fan of hip-hop (and I am definitely not) you need to check this out.