Young People

In the opening months of 2001 a trio calling itself Young People came together in an effort to create a country outfit, yet the resulting sound wove traditional American idioms together with the improvisational spirit of underground rock. The group’s mix of rock, country, and avant-garde elements centered on vocalist Katie Eastburn, guitarist Jeff Rosenburg, and drummer Jarrett Silberman. Nashville native Eastburn, already working as a choreographer and producer at San Francisco’s Janet Pants Dans Theeatre, first encountered Rosenburg—onetime member of the noise-rock band Pink and Brown—toward the end of the 1990s, and the two collaborated on a dance score. After a period spent in Berlin during 2000, the pair settled in Los Angeles and began shaping what would become Young People’s debut recording. Silberman, whose résumé included time with the Uphill Gardeners, completed the lineup the following winter, and the three adopted their name from a 1940 Shirley Temple film.

The self-titled first album surfaced initially as a CD-R and then, augmented by three extra tracks, on 5 Rue Christine in 2002. Critics responded with enthusiasm, praising the band’s chaotically beautiful music and drawing parallels to Cat Power, the Dirty Three, and the Velvet Underground. That same year Young People performed at the Newport Folk Festival while preparing songs for a follow-up, and in early 2003 the members relocated to New York City. During the spring they shared stages with the Kills, the Seconds, and the Liars and issued The Single through Hand Held Heart Records.

War Prayers, the second full-length effort, reached listeners in autumn 2003 via Dim Mak. Rosenburg departed the following year to focus on academic pursuits, leaving Eastburn and Silberman to continue as a duo. Ahead of the third Young People album in 2005, Eastburn produced a dance DVD for Kill Rock Stars, Silberman released solo work and recorded with folk artist Becky Stark, and Rosenburg gave occasional solo performances in Los Angeles. The band then signed with Too Pure, issuing the Five Sunsets in Four Days EP at the start of 2006 and the full-length All at Once later that spring.