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Latvian Indie Bros Carnival Youth’s New Album is Versatile and Really Freaking Good

The Baltic four-piece mixes playful indie vibes, dream pop, and pure rock'n'roll on their endorphin-spiked second album, 'Propeller'.

After getting showered with both Best Debut Album of the Year (2014) in their home country of Latvia and winning the EBBA Public Choice Award (European Border Breaker Awards) for their debut LP No Clouds Allowed, these four chill-as-fuck indie dudes have kept the pedal to the medal, and whipped up this dopamine-drenched banger parade of a second album called Propeller.

It kicks off with giddy opening track and first single "Connection Lost", mashing up playful indie vibes with psych-y synths and bone-rattling electro, while addressing one of the biggest plights Millennials face today: Digital awkwardness. It's a catchy anthem for those of you who know your GIF-game isn't nearly as on-point as it should be.

Aside from Carnival Youth's delightfully carefree garage/indie vibes, that'll be right up your alley if you're into Vampire Weekend, Twin Peaks, Milky Chance, that kind of thing, Propeller shows surprising versatility. Spanning from noise-filled, cosmic rock ballad "Fooling Myself" (think: Kings of Leon's "Closer" re-imagined by Radiohead), through the dream pop-infused "Surf" and the gnarly guitar riffs of "Iloveyous", to the comfortably accessible melancholy of "Seagulls on Bicycles", it's exciting, emotional and crazy fun all at once. Perfect for that warm, spacey state of mind you slip into around 10 or 11AM the day after a sleep-deprived night of lust, love, and maniacal intoxication.

Slap on Carnival Youth's new album Propeller and, like us, you'll realize there's some pretty fucking cool music coming out of the Baltics these days. Toss in the caustic, Estonian flowmaster Tommy Cash, and the old Eastern Bloc is basically just a few monster men in trilby hats and some yoga-friendly adult baby music away from being the new Iceland.

Propeller is already out in CY's home nation of Latvia, and is set to drop all over Scandinavia tomorrow, May 20th. And if you're still thinking 'How the fuck have I not been listening to more Latvian music' - don't sweat it. They're touring Europe intensely all year long.