Wu Lyf

I must confess to never having noticed the name until yesterday, and this morning they're the lead live review in NME. Apparently they despise the press, which will be why mainstream media dinosaurs like me might be unfamiliar with them. Listened to a couple of tracks this morning and rather liked them - though it was a single trick: growling Waitsian voice over funereal organ. What does ILX have to say of this supposedly happening new musical sensation?

Despise the press?

Because they are too:
1) rubbish?
2) cool?

Neither option gives them much credit.

(no idea if they are any good or not)

There's a bit of a lo-fi Springsteen thing going on in their music isn't there? Kind of reminded me of the Constantines.

Really? Didn't hear any sign of Springsteen or the Constantines in the two I listened to!
I think they despise the press because they are too cool. Their web presence is profoundly unhelpful, too.

Think I listened to 'Heavy Pop' which put me in mind of a scruffier Darkness At The Edge of Town. All organ swells, drum climaxes and larynx-shredding vocals.

xpost ta, suspected as much.

i like this band

what is the deal w/ their name

WORLD UNITE! LUCIFER YOUTH FOUNDATION via their website

i kinda summed up their deal <a href="http://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/wu_lyf.php";>over here</a>. they are fakers, also: promising.

I like what I've heard. Do you know that they "despise" the press or are they just cleverly stepping out of the way of the hype shit shower that was nearly unleashed on them 13 months ago when they were one of 2010's ones to watch?

I was offered some money to present a 'short tv film' about them with the aim of trying to find out who they were on camera (i.e. door knocking them like a low rent Justin Lee Collins.) I refused their kind offer.

er i am pretty sure this "hate the press" stuff is hype-building fakery.

they are managed by an extremely hot-to-trot young media guru.

Offered the choice of two options, I went for the one that went with what I had been able to find out about them this morning. I really don't remember any "hype shit shower" 13 months ago ...

Sorry. Misread my own post. Idiot.
Was told this morning they despised the press, on asking around. And the impression I got was that position was one of studied coolness. Which fits in with what Sean said just there.

modest mouse

what is the deal w/ their name

― just sayin, Wednesday, February 16, 2011 9:17 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

wu-tang 4 life!!!!!!

Wu Lyf Jean

growling Waitsian voice over funereal organ

Having heard the album now this strikes me as a particularly generous way of saying "sounds like the guy from Terris over ropey third-tier post-rock".

Haven't heard these guys yet, but from what I've read it's like Gay Dad all over again - i.e. interesting media angle (with GD it's the name, with these guys it's the anonymity), but with really run of the mill music.

Nah, different sound, different type of hype, different point in the cycle. Gay Dad were kinda aiming for the mainstream post-Britpop audience several years too late, Wu Lyf are the sort of the band who get marketed squarely at indie kids during commercial fallow periods (ie self-consciously difficult, not really that interesting).

Sorry, "difficult" should be in scare-quotes.

Yeah, the album was a disappointment really but I'm still impressed with the way they've handled themselves. They've got the potential to release a great album I think.

Less impressive is how some broadsheet journalists seem to think they've uncovered a story in the fact that they've got a manager called Warren Bramley who works in advertising, like having a man with a plan is something new in popular music.

Hands up if you thought this thread was about some Wu-Tang project... What's the deal with this band's name?

Yeah I thought so.

what is the deal w/ their name

― just sayin, Wednesday, February 16, 2011 9:17 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

WORLD UNITE! LUCIFER YOUTH FOUNDATION via their website

― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 16 February 2011 14:20 (3 months ago)

this band pisses me off. and like i say, i haven't heard them yet.

previews of the album are up on amazon.
impression : a big fat meh.

Been listening to this on Spotify this morning and it's not really my sort of thing, but they do have this great shambolic gusto to them which I find kind of charming. Sort of a mix of stadium indie and northern oik rock. Quite fetching when they have that African-ish guitar stuff going on, though even that sounds a bit like Cast play the Vampire Weekend songbook at times.

yeah i know i hate them now.

what is the deal with their name?

modest mouse

― jaxon, Wednesday, February 16, 2011 11:12 AM (3 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'll tell you what i think when i see them but you won't be interested

is it too much to ask for enunciated vocals?

what is the deal with their name?

― 51 suggest gang (The Reverend), Monday, June 13, 2011 11:02 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark

World Unite! Lucifer Youth Foundation

betting money your eye-roll has nothing on mine

wow this band just played on letterman. absolutely terrible.

And having just learned about that Letterman performance via Scott, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvsHJjldYW8

I enjoy how the singer keeps looking up like he thinks God will somehow save them from their imminent slide into complete forgottenness.

That still says it all, you want to beat these people.

I can't imagine anyone lasting to the end of that performance, so just skip to 3:40 for letterman's witheringly cheery response

i don't have anything useful to add but these guys suck

Holy shit, Dave's response! Thanks for the tip...

letterman's happy indiana dickhead routine is still the best

also lead singer says "what's up motherfuckers" at 3:35, furthering their mancunian street cred

also bassist makes me want to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJqu2yGg9Bo

How does someone look so inflamed with passion and so incredibly bored *at the same time*? Maybe it's the popped collar (which I had always assumed was mostly an American fratboy affectation). The song itself has to be one of the most harmonically enfeebled things I've heard in a long time, too.

haha <3 letterman

"Hey HEY...good job, buddy...is that your regular drummer?"

what is the deal w/ their name

They're assholes?

oh my god thank you ilx for vaildating my opinion that this band is terrible

^^^^^

i was just thinking the other day how much i wish we could restart the lana del rey conversation, but about a british indie rock band

people joke about all the good band names being taken but my god england must have burned through its ration for sure

that performance is definitely not very good, but the album rules

ugh, it is so... BRO-Y

Totally. Nu-bro-y, though. The singer will definitely become a mixologist within three years of the band's demise.

oh it's totally bro-y

i have room for that kinda thing in my life tho... like one album a year

it's like wolf parade doing arena rock, which admittedly holds less appeal to me now than it would've, say, four years ago, but still

glad i could play a small part in reinvigorating the critical discussion of wu lyfe. wait, no i'm not. but that letterman thing is great. i laughed so hard when i saw that. i love dave's reaction.

their singer looks like daniel radcliffe but he is much, much worse.

i like these guys alright. but i have a pretty high tolerance for "bad" singers.

that letterman number has a sort of Waterboys "this is the sea" kinda thing going with it...don't know if that's a point for or against them

what is the deal w/ their name

http://www.toonarific.com/pics_root//00001805/itswolflogo.jpg

It's the Wu Lyf, it's the Wu Lyf

it's like wolf parade doing arena rock, which admittedly holds less appeal to me now than it would've, say, four years ago, but still

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, February 1, 2012 1:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you liked this & disliked the cut copy??? -___________-

they may have split up so the story goes...

well, it was a good run

oh wait no it wasn't

Boy, I'd love to hear Ellery's new stuff, but it's through fucking Bit Torrent and every time I try to run the installer, it crashes.

http://pitchfork.com/news/62019-wu-lyfs-ellery-james-roberts-returns-with-two-luh-tracks-lost-under-heaven-and-angels-sing/

Would someone be kind enough to share a zip file of this stuff if you've already grabbed it? I'll send you the demo for 'Triumph.'

Anybody?

I know they're not very popular here, but I'm trying anyway.

They're...back?

https://www.worldunite.org/

it's really hard to care because lost under heaven were much better than wu lyf ever were

new song been in rotation for a few weeks by now. kind of a crazy horse-esque vibe and ellery has left his screamo voice in the past for this one. i like it a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geKcHDjgP4s

"a new life is coming"

these guys sure are funny about being able to hear their recordings. that above link got retconned, so here's the bandcamp. it's also since reappeared on youtube, but (seemingly) permanently gone from spotify. one of my top tracks of the year.

new album is a lot better than their debut