Written by: Alex Green

(Photo by Josie Bee)

Manchester’s The Underground Youth are one of our favorite new bands.

Their Beautiful & Damned EP is out now on Fuzz Club Records and it features some of the most arresting and moody songs of the year.

“Behind” has all the dark prowl of The Stone Roses’ “I Want Be Adored,” “Shadow” is awash in foreboding and dark menace.the ethereal stomp of “Damned” sounds like a Nick Cave psychodrama being played out in wet alley behind the Hacienda.

Check it out  here:

The band’s Olya Dyer was kind enough to fill out our Scouting Report questionnaire.

“Favorite muppet?” we asked.

“The frog,” she said…

SCOUTING REPORT: THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH

FULL NAME: Olya Dyer

HOMETOWN: Manchester

WEBSITE: www.theundergroundyouth.com

RECORD LABEL: Fuzz Club Records

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN ONE SENTENCE: Raw post-punk melancholia with psychedelic tendencies.

PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: Sharing the stage with my own musical idols.

THE SONG YOU WISH YOU’D WRITTEN: ‘Rentboy’ by HTRK.

FIVE MUSICIANS YOU ADMIRE: Rowland S. Howard, Nick Cave, Sune Rose Wagner, Peter Kember, Alex Zhang Hungtai.

ALBUM YOU CAN’T STOP LISTENING TO: The Soft Moon by The Soft Moon

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A KID: Demanding.

THREE THINGS THAT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT: Good company, conversation and alcohol.

LAST BOOK YOU READ: ‘The Last Night Of The Earth Poems” by Charles Bukowski

FAVORITE MUPPET: The frog.

CATS OR DOGS? Either.

THINGS WE’D FIND IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR: I can’t drive, no one would allow me to have a car.

HARDEST PART ABOUT YOUR JOB: Hand blisters.

FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU GET TO A NEW CITY: Take a walk on my own.

WHAT WORD DO YOU OVERUSE IN CONVERSATION?: “What?”

WHAT WILL THE TITLE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY BE?: Don’t Take Me Too Seriously Or Too Close To Your Heart

FAVORITE LATE NIGHT TV SHOW: I don’t watch any TV shows.

DRINK OF CHOICE: Coffee and red wine, separately.

BEST ALBUM TO PLAY AFTER A BREAK-UP AND YOU’RE HOLDING A BOTTLE OF VODKA AND SOMETHING SHARP: Chelsea Girl by Nico

INDULGENCE YOU REFUSE TO GIVE UP: Alcohol

 SOMEONE SAYS, “DON’T TELL ANYONE I TOLD YOU THIS.”  DO YOU?: Never

WORDS TO LIVE BY: “Time is honey, so cut the shit”.