Young Man
‘Vol. 1’ (Frenchkiss)
It’s a debut, right? Wrong. Confusingly, ‘Vol. 1’ is the second part of a musical trilogy that deals with the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and… aww, wait, come back! Let’s try again: Young Man is the alter-ego of Chicago’s Colin Caulfield, who spends his days pitching groovadelic ballads somewhere between Avi Buffalo and Hood. Occasionally it’s beautiful – the acoustic breakdown in ‘Thoughts’ is unexpectedly sublime – and often beguiling. Album closer ‘Directions’ even manages to out-Deerhunter Deerhunter for seven minutes. Caulfield’s art rarely makes the leap from ‘interesting’ to ‘arresting’, but that’s advancing adulthood in a nutshell really, isn’t it?
