King Youngblood has been leading the rising Pacific Northwest pack long before pop’s biggest names started embracing cathartic rock music. Led by Lavi-Jones, King Youngblood’s music is a crucial leap towards the future of big, guitar and rock drums-driven music. Already championed by the likes of multiplatinum producer Phillip Peterson (A$AP Rocky, Portugal the Man, Pink), and London Bridge studio owner and producer Eric Lilavois (Ayron Jones, My Chemical Romance, Macklemore, Death Cab for Cutie), the band’s sound incorporates a unique blend of Lavi-Jones’ heavy guitars, take no prisoners drums, virtuoso bass guitar and an electrified acoustic cello; all shining a light on the melodic pop hooks that underpin Lavi-Jones and the band’s compositions.

Lead single “Home Is Only A House”, which has dropped today, is “a hard hitting musical cavalcade about real-time processing the self-truth that you should never have to convince someone to be in their life” according to Lavi-Jones. “I wrote it as a means to cope with a messy, confusing, breakup. This song is an affirmation for me; a reminder to never settle on a situation where you have to convince someone to see your light.”

A strong belief in doing what is right lies at the core of what drives Lavi-Jones and King Youngblood. A second-generation Black/Jewish activist whose father was a member of the Black Panther Party, Lavi-Jones and King Youngblood are here to put the world on notice that there is an army of dedicated, progressive young people determined to change the course of world history, one note at a time. That belief seeps into his creative expressions as a musician. Lavi-Jones: “As a black Jew, I’ve been incredibly lucky to grow up with a sense of pride in who I am and my dual cultures, without ever having to look at them as opposite sides of a coin. People that look like me as a BIPOC person have spent too much time being shoved in the shadows. I have something to say, and I am grateful my songs and my band give me the forum to speak my mind and lift up others.” 

Through the music of King Youngblood, Lavi-Jones and his compatriots have boldly declared that unironic, melodic rock’n’roll continues to stand tall as a vibrant medium of cathartic self-expression.

Photo Courtesy: Brittne Lunniss