Young Jesus - For Nana

Music 5 years ago

Young Jesus - For Nana

Young Jesus leader John Rossiter writes essays for The Los Angeles Review of Books about viewing the NBA as a socioeconomic metaphor.

In interviews, he talks about Crass and the non-narcotic uses of mushrooms. He works at a celebrated California bookstore, and only camp counselors seem more excited about their jobs.

Maybe that all seems as imposing as Young Jesus’ new album, The Whole Thing Is Just There—six songs, 49 minutes, sprees of knotty improvisations within rock tunes. But there’s an endearing transparency to Young Jesus’ competing personality quirks.

They’re the grad student at a Big Ten university who reads books about jazz improvisation while manning a DSA table on campus before getting drunk at the five-act indie rock house show. A sort of philosophy jam band that riffs on ideology and politics instead of actual solos, Young Jesus are audacious but accessible, instantly likable even at their most esoteric.