The Brazen Youth

There is a barn in rural CT that has stood for three centuries. It is older than the bicycle, the battery, the USA and every person it’s ever known. But it’s lived long enough for three teens to bond inside its walls, start a band called The Brazen Youth and record an audacious concept album: 2016’s The Ever Dying Bristlecone Man. It’s a record about immortality, something the indie band’s founders Nic Lussier and Charlie Dahlke have chased since they met at 13. Back then, they spent hours writing songs and bonding over Sufjan Stevens, The Antlers and Neutral Milk Hotel. Their glue? Drummer Micah Rubin, the self-described sentimental one. He keeps the band on Earth when they’re eyeing the moon. “We never wanted to win a Grammy,” Dahlke says. “We just wanted to make a cult classic.” And they did. Bristlecone Man — with its dizzying lyrics, gentle acoustics and maximalist folk explosions — has a loyal following, a streaming hit (“Center of Gravity”) and a 10-year anniversary vinyl. Three albums later, The Brazen Youth aren’t done yet. They’ve just grown up. Rubin is a tour manager for acts like Annie DiRusso and former Brazen Youth guitarist Mei Semones. Lussier makes solo music as Downey Chase. Dahlke still produces records at the farm. But friendship keeps the band together. They don’t have a label or manager — they have each other. And they agree their next album is the best one yet. It might just live forever. Would you expect anything less of a band who already has?