Imagine the sticky floor of a basement show in the Midwest where the humidity is high and the volume is higher. Be The Young grabs that specific lightning in a bottle on their new track Best Intentions and it hits with the force of a forgotten summer memory. The song starts with a drum fill that feels like a heart skip and then the guitars take over with a crunch that reminds me of the best Pop-punk anthems from two decades ago but there is a freshness here that keeps it from feeling like a museum piece.
Everything about the arrangement screams confidence and the way the lead singer handles the melody in the chorus is a miracle for an independent act. It has the bouncy energy of classic Blink-182 but the songwriting depth feels more akin to the middle era of Green Day where the politics of the heart were as loud as the amps. You can hear the hunger in the performance and the production stays out of the way so the raw emotion can do the heavy lifting which is a rare choice in an era of over-compressed digital noise.
I found myself hitting repeat before the final chord even finished ringing out because the bridge has this sudden shift in tempo that feels like falling in love in a crowded room. The lyrics about trying your hardest and still coming up short are universal and the band belts them out without a hint of irony or cynicism. It is the kind of song that makes you want to drive too fast with the windows down and scream until your throat is raw and that is exactly what great music should do to a person.
Madison Wisconsin has always had a scrappy undercurrent of talent and Be The Young confirms that the Heartland still knows how to write a melody that sticks to your ribs. They have taken the skeleton of the Warped Tour sound and put real muscle on the bones and the result is a track that feels massive and intimate at the same time. This is the sound of a band that knows who they are and they are clearly ready for the biggest stages they can find.
If this is the direction of their new material then we are looking at a breakout year for these guys and I am fully on board for the ride. A special kind of magic happens when pop hooks meet punk grit and Fall Out Boy might have started the fire but Be The Young is the one carrying the torch right now. Best Intentions is a triumph of spirit and songwriting and I can’t wait to see how the world reacts when they hear this absolute beast of a track.
