Meet the Locals – Free Press Houston Summer Fest Performers: Young Mammals

Young Mammals - HPMA Awards 2008

My Two Cents:

When I was a teenager, one of my favorite things to do was to familiarize myself with the best local music (in my opinion – of course). Back then, we had more venues willing to play live music and, for awhile at least, it seemed Houston had more local musical talent than we knew what to do with. I had all the music I could ever want right at my fingertips. It was great. Then, I moved away for college and when I returned, my passion for local music had waned and I never felt the overwhelming urge to try to resurrect it.

When I finally came around, I was fortunate enough to be writing about music and entering back into the Houston music scene as it was taking a turn upward. There are a handful of truly talented indie-type bands in Houston and time has helped many of them develop into really solid performers. One of those bands – Young Mammals – seem to have just been born into greatness.

I’d heard about Young Mammals for years – but back in the day they were known as The Dimes. I’m fairly certain that from the moment they began playing – people could not stop talking about them. It was awhile before I got to see them live, but when that day finally came – I was not disappointed.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve seen them perform in tiny venues like Club 1808 in Austin and Butterfly Lounge and people are always crammed wall to wall in sweaty goodness to see them play. Describing their music as energetic really is doing a disservice to how fun and animated their live performances are. From start to finish – their shows just never stop being fun and each one is a unique experience separate and distinct from the last.

The music overall is really catchy and well constructed. Their songs ebb and flow with a nice ratio of subtle indie chords to manic powerpop and Carlos’ voice is distinct enough to carry the power of the instrumentation all the way home.

The guys recently finished their LP “Carrots” and will be kicking off a small tour on July 9 at Mango’s. Check their Myspace page to see if their playing in a town near you – and if they aren’t – bring your butt down to Houston and check them out at the Free Press Houston Summer Fest!

Get to know the band in their (or their publicist/etc./etc.) words:

YM Band Bio via SXSW 2009 Showcase Artists Page (which they did in fact play this past March!)

Like any good story of biblical proportions, Young Mammal’s origins begin with brothers: The Sanchez’s. In 2004, front man Carlos Sanchez and bassist Jose Sanchez would share their mutual musical appreciation with guitarist and world geography classmate Cley Miller. Soon after, the three joined forces during their freshman and sophomore years of high school and become the Young Mammals.

The young men began by rocking the usual battles of the bands and local gigs, the whole while revealing some of their most obvious influences (Talking Heads, Pixies, Television, Beatles, Beach Boys), while keeping some of them to themselves (The Zombies, Neutral Milk Hotel, Taj Mahal, Nick Drake). Taking their brand of intensely youthful (and some times sexy) indie rock pop to the streets, Young Mammals began recording a handful of tracks in the studio in 2006.

Armed with their self-titled EP, the band garnered local and statewide attention, having been nominated for four 2007 Houston Press Music Awards (Best Indie Act, Best New Act, Best Song for “Delilah” and Best Local Artist) and winning three. The Young Mammals went on to play the 2008 South by Southwest music festival and deservedly won the Houston Press’ “Best Band Name” award in 2008.

The Young Mammals recently finished recording CARROTS, their first LP, with Houston producer Steve Christensen. And while they continue to open with an impressive roster of music acts (including The Walkmen, Tapes ‘n’ Tapes, HEALTH, French Kicks, Dios (Malos), Voxtrot, Dr. Dog, Matt & Kim and others), the Young Mammals plan to play at a stage near you in 2009.