At the end of their debut album, the members of Youngblood Hawke sing, “You don’t get a second chance to make the same mistakes.” Not in this case, however. Principals Simon Katz and Sam Martin created the band from the ashes of Iglu & Hartly, staying on the buoyantly melodic synth-pop tip that has one foot in the ’80s and the other in step with peers like fun. and Passion Pit. Restraint isn’t the group’s stock in trade, though it does pull back a bit on tracks like “Glacier” and “Live and Die.” And the anthemic choruses of “Rootless,” “We Come Running” and “Say Say,” among others, are unquestionably–and unapologetically–built for mass singalongs. The soulful “Blackbeak” and “Forever,” meanwhile, mix some shimmering guitars into the album’s synth-dominated textures. There’s a sameness that creeps into the ebb-and-flow dynamics here, but when the songs are taken individually there’s more than enough to make listeners take notice.
