Setting the tone with a soft rock, guitar energy with dimensional drums, Picnic Lightning open Youth Group with atmospheric vocals and metaphorical lyricism.
We immediately love the soundscape and immersive nature of Youth Group. The vocals are charismatic and the lyricism is laced with poetic nuance, which we appreciate.
We learn that Picnic Lightning are from Fort Worth, Texas, a band that describe their work as” raw and brooding desert punk” and “the sound of summer heat and dimly lit clubs”, which feels perfect to us!
With as much flair as their lyricism, the band describes Youth Group as a “dark, post-everything wall of sound [which] howls like a dust storm, delivering a spiritual stomp that dwells in the shadowland of trenchant questions and orphic revelations.” Needless to say, we are obsessed.
It’s always refreshing to experience a band with so much prowess and depth, sometimes a rarity, but once found, you never look back and literally become a listener for life. That feels like the case with Picnic Lightning, and our introduction to them through the dynamic release of Youth Group.
Picnic Lightning formed in 2013 with Thomas Edmond Ketchersid on vocals, guitar, Cole Alvin Watkins on lead vocals and guitar, John Lenox Cope on bass and vocals, and Cameron Joseph Navarro on drums and vocals.
We appreciate the authenticity that they share and the tangible charisma of Youth Group, which we have added to our New Music Spotlight playlist, whilst we continue to stream Picnic Lightning‘s wider discography including the Texas Mix of Over My Head!