Premiere: Grieving Deliver Old-School Emo Soul On Start Young

Sometimes – though it feels rarer and rarer – a song, or a band if you’re lucky, just pops out of the ether and hits you with a punch that feels like a kiss, and that’s it, it’s love.

Step forward Grieving, a four-piece from Cambridge who aren’t exactly newcomers, having put out a few small releases and enjoyed some decent radio play from Daniel P Carter and 6 Music, but are fresh to these ears. 

And what a rush, truly – the track we’re premiering here, Start Young, is evocative of so many great post-hardcore bands of a decade-plus ago, acts that toured on floors, that took payment in sweat, and who ate cold beans straight out the tins for sustenance. Which is to say: some stuff just sounds more real than the rest, doesn’t it? Don't @ us.

Start Young is the second song released from the band’s early-2018-due debut album, which was recorded with Bob Cooper (his credits include Nai Harvest and Self Defense Family, which will mean a lot to some readers, certainly). The first, Brian Emo (see what they did there?) can be heard here. 

Previously compared to Jawbreaker, and we're definitely hearing some Jade Tree-isms in here, Grieving are nailing that late-90s/early 00s heavier-end-of-the-emo-spectrum sound, while adding a modern resonance – and we’re loving it. Throwback, a little; but absolutely in tune with the here and now.

And if you’re loving it too, see Grieving (Facebook, Twitter) live as follows:

September
22: Cambridge, Subterranean Festival @ Corn Exchange 

December
21: London, New Cross Inn 

And listen to the band’s 2016 EP, Demonstrations, below.