Photo by Atiba Jefferson

For the first time in four long years, the instrumentally-dexterous duo tandem of Sara Taylor and Ryan George of Youth Code are presenting a collection of freshly constructed tracks with their new EP, Yours, With Malice. The release marks an emphatic return following an extended time away, last releasing their mammoth collaborative effort with King Yosef in 2021's, A Skeleton Key in the Doors of Depression. 

The tandem ofYouth Code issued a pair of assertive previews from their next chapter, offering fans a glimpse of their modern EBM mastery and show of musical range far beyond typical. The introductory single, "No Consequence," pushed a relentless pace, coupled with aggressive synth and a commanding vocal cadence from Taylor that reestablished Youth Code as leaders of the pack.  

Youth Code's second showing from the EP with "In Search of Tomorrow" frames the same unabated pulse, powered by the convincing charge of Taylor, all atop warm, anthemic synth. Shifting from insidious to inspirational, the pair of singles underscored Youth Code's range and spoke to the old adage of good things being well worth the wait. 

Combining the duo's hardcore pedigree with their deeply-rooted connection to synth and EBM, Youth Code's cross-section of styles is what has sealed their continued effectiveness for more than a decade. With a catalog that boasts essential, evergreen releases including 2014's A Place to Stand, 2016's Commitment to Complications and the previously mention 2021 collab opposite King Yosef, Youth Code offer a vital bridge between heavy music and electronica through their intensity and authenticity. 

 

To better substantiate their foundation and elaborate on the roadmap that steered towards Yours, With Malice, Ryan George and Sara Taylor were tasked with the impossible. Sitting in with KNOTFEST, the two took on the difficult chore of condensing down their discovery of electronica to just five albums apiece. In an effort to better understand both George and Taylor as equal parts of the sum total, it's important to get their personal vantage point of the music that shaped them. 

The Knife - Silent Shout

George - This record is played constantly on every tour I’ve been on since it was released and I never get sick of it. It can make me feel like I’m on ecstasy while totally sober. 

 

OMD - Organization

George - “The Misunderstanding“ is the only song I’ve wanted to cover in Youth Code. It also makes me go back and listen to the Former Ghosts (Freddy Rupert) discography pretty much every time it ends. 

 

Pet Shop Boys - Please / Further Listening 1984-1986

George - This record is home to my favorite/most played dance track of theirs. The remix of "A Man Could Get Arrested" (12” B-Side) absolutely bangs. Although “I Want to Wake Up” from the record, actually is my all time favorite PSB song. 

Mika Vainio - Kilo

George - Darkness. Imprisoning me. All that I see. Absolute horror. 

 

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

George - While the later NIN material is absolutely more emotionally heavy and the sound design is still mind boggling to this day, this record is filled with these clunky early synths and drum machines that I love the sound of. 16 note high hats and bass lines with no modulation forever. 

 

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Taylor had to preface her selections, emphasizing the influence the sound has had on her both personally and professionally. "This is going to be extremely difficult for me to narrow down to five releases seeing as electronic music has single handedly had the biggest impact on my life overall. From listening to Depeche Mode with my father as a young girl, to raves in the early 00’s in downtown Los Angeles - no other music has had as much of an impact on me as electronica in all facets and forms. I’m sure I’ll have to list a few honorable mentions as well, and I’ll try to omit the most obvious of influences. 

Sophie - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides

Taylor - One of the greatest producers ever born gave way to one of the most beautiful records ever written and then was taken from the world in a flash, as if she was born to be lightning. Sophie’s composition style intersperses so many different genres and styles that is is difficult to just pin her to one type of genre. Her drum production and infamous use of the elektron monomachine unlock hours of inspiration in programming for me. Subs that rattle your teeth being sliced in pieces by swipes of metal clang make you feel like you’re getting rattled by Mike Tyson with a jagged glass shard. Somehow through all of this the music goes from cute to crying all in one release. 

 

Dillinja - Cybotron

Taylor - One of the undisputed kings of drum and bass, Dillinja’s signature “valve sound” really hooked me as a 16 year old junglist at raves and never stopped inspiring me. I would lose myself for hours in the DNB room, and then swiftly hit limewire the following day to find out how to procure all of it. The chaotic breakbeat lining the nastiest bass tones ever made, all clocking in at 172 beats per minute? Perfection. Somehow the most sublime combination of cool and chaos. When we record I always want the bass to be as nasty as this sounds. 

 

Deathpile - G.R.

Taylor - Despite it being a wildly controversial and dark record thematically (it is, after all, a record about the green river killer written from his imagined perspective of the crimes) I have never felt so torn apart and haunted from feedback and terror as I have from experiencing this album start to finish. This record is a complete emotional experience, and if I could deliver a nightmare even a fraction as succinct as this has, it will be a job well done in my book. The animosity that Jonathan Canady delivers vocally is a lifetime of inspiration. 

 

Aphex Twin - Drukqs

Taylor - I’ll never forget buying the double CD and taking it on tour with me in 2003 listening to it on a Sony white clamshell discman. I had it playing so loud in my headphones that a band member in the van row behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said “what the fuck are you listening to- the sounds of Pac-Man?”  Aphex Twin’s mind-bending stutters and modular insanity are unparalleled, and to this day I will never understand how any of it is created. The textural landscape of difference that goes between my personal favorite track ("Cock/ver10") to the following somber and gorgeous track "Avril 14th" are just a glimmer of insight into the madness that is Aphex Twin. 

 

Babyland -You Suck Crap

Taylor - Probably the most obvious of influence comes from a band that is still much of an underdog in the public eye. LA’s own Babyland are absolute predecessors of the music we make. Angry, snarling punk accomplished completely through a blanket of electronics. I never got to see them when they were active, but when I discovered them it felt like a missing link between every world I’ve ever loved. The song “Mask” is everything I’ve ever wanted to write. Dan Gatto from Babyland also releases music currently under the name “Continues" and still to this day writes some of the best songs I have ever heard. Passionate, haunting and ripe with emotion, he never misses the mark in any of his projects. 

 

Taylor did make good on submitting a shortlist of honorable mentions. 

Prick - Prick

The Prodigy - Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

Christoph De Babalon - If You're Into It, I'm Out of It

Kavari - Suture EP

Assemblage 23 - Storm

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Yours, With Malice, the new EP from Youth Code is now available via Sumerian Records. Get the EP - HERE

Be sure to catch Youth Code live in celebration of the arrival of Yours, With Malice. The pair will be performing a trio of select market dates later this month, with confirmed appearances in Brooklyn and Chicago. June 7th, Youth Code will return home for a sold out set at The Echo that is not to be missed. See dates and cities below.