Michael Younker gleefully skewers scenesters on power-pop ripper "So What!"
Michael Younger returns with “So What!,” an evolutionary step along the same brilliantly bratty path laid out on 2024’s Sweet Things EP, further enhancing his abilities as a trenchant troubadour keen on eviscerating the status quo, lit up on a high-proof cocktail of unfiltered sass and winking playfulness.
Big, chunky riffs and spirited rhythms rub shoulders throughout, charging the track with a crackling static electricity that unpredictably sticks to or shocks whatever it comes in contact with. Confidently skewering scene-y wannabes and the never-ending escalation of hipster one-upmanship that dominates the sub-cultural modern New York landscape, Younker leverages his outsider-on-the-inside status to comment on the vain superficiality of it all, while simultaneously reveling in the parade of peacocks and posers that provide an endless source of amusement and inspiration.
Younker’s typically acerbic attitude seems slightly more tempered this time around, tacking away from the raw, blitzkrieg bop of classic New York punk and aligning more with the inventive mischievousness of Matthew Sweet and magnetic power pop songcraft of Cheap Trick. These elements of refinement don’t blunt the impact of “So What!,” instead introducing a fresh layer of nuance that lends a measure thoughtfulness and focus to Younker’s gleeful diatribes, forecasting a trajectory in which his continued development as a songwriter leads beyond the boroughs to invite his remarkable insights and cunning wit to tackle hot topics and social (dis)graces on a much wider scale.
Date Night Denim is available May 30. Pre-save the EP here. Follow Michael Younker on Instagram.