After two albums under his own name, Youth Lagoon, the beloved project of Trevor Powers, announced its return last month with Heaven is a Junkyard, due out in June via Fat Possum Records. The lead single “Idaho Alien” was a bluesy, melancholy number that was a ways away from the dreamy psychedelia of the project’s past, and today he’s revealed the second single “Prizefighter”.
“Prizefighter” exists in a similar world as the lead single, with a little bit more of Powers’s distinct grasp on harmony shining through the sepia-colored sonics that exist on the record. Like “Idaho Alien”, the track is strikingly personal, exploring the bond between two brothers with alarming specificity of life in small-town America. Powers said the following about the track:
4 years ago, I started writing a song about brothers. I grew up with 3 of them, so our house was doomsday but with more sugar cereal. Our love was strong and so was our barbarity. It was real joy — the kind you didn’t have to look for cuz it smacked you in the face or pushed you off the bed into a file cabinet. Beyond that, we were homeschooled. 4 weirdos home all day who adored each other and hated each other and played baseball everyday in the backyard and threw rocks at each other’s heads and laughed ’till we threw up. Our bond is forever. That song I started those years ago meant too much to me to finish. I was scared of it. Scared of not making it great… so I tabled it.
A couple weeks before leaving to make the record, I went through some old voice memos while watching a VHS of Drugstore Cowboy. I listened to that 30-second sketch called “Prizefighter.” It was like an angel fell from the sky to tell me how to finish it. “Don’t make it great,” she said. “Make it true.” I finished the song in 2 days.
You can watch the video directed by Tyler T. Williams below, and scroll on for dates of Youth Lagoon’s first tour in eight years, including a stop at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival in July.
Youth Lagoon Tour Dates
Fri. July 14 – Spokane, WA @ Lucky You
Sat. July 15 – Bozeman, MT @ The Elm
Mon. July 17 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Club David
Tue. July 18 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s
Thu. July 20 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Fri. July 21 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sat. July 22 – Louisville, KY @ The Whirling Tiger
Sun. July 23 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill
Tue. July 25 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar
Wed. July 26 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
Fri. July 28 – Fort Collin, CO @ The Aggie
Sat. July 29 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
Mon. July 31 – Jackson Hole, WY @ Center for the Arts
Thu. Sept. 7 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall *
Fri. Sept. 8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge *
Sat. Sept. 9 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater *
Mon. Sept. 11 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
Tue. Sept. 12 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon *
Fri. Sept. 15 – Detroit, MI @ El Club *
Sat. Sept. 16 – Toronto,ON @ Horseshoe Tavern *
Mon. Sept. 18 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount *
Tue. Sept. 19 – Boston, MA @ Sinclair *
Wed. Sept. 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
Fri. Sept. 22 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church *
Sat. Sept. 23 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage *
Mon. Sept. 25 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall *
Tue. Sept. 26 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 *
Thu. Sept. 28 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) *
Fri. Sept. 29 – Austin, TX @ Antone’s *
Sat. Sept. 30 – Dallas, TX @ Trees *
Mon. Oct. 2 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *
Tue. Oct. 3 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *
Wed. Oct. 4 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Fri. Oct. 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom *
Sat. Oct. 7 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall *
Mon. Oct. 9 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *
Tue. Oct. 10 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
Wed. Oct. 11 – Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt *
Thu. Oct. 12 – Bellingham, WA @ Bellingham Exit *
* w/ URIKA’S BEDROOM
