The Australian rockers moved overseas while coming to terms with their huge success – then frontman Dave Le’aupepe discovered something about his father that would inspire their next album
Step outside Australia, as Gang of Youths have done, and you may struggle to find someone who knows them by name. They’re unforgettable live – frontman Dave Le’aupepe has the charisma and intensity of a preacher, howling his songs like a burly Michael Hutchence. And, just like the songwriters he loves (Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits), his lyrics tell vivid stories: of a troubled but decent man, outrunning debts and trouble, wrestling with fear and depression, losing faith and finding it again. But Le’aupepe’s lyrical verbosity – “A rough arsehole using big words” as he puts it – along with the unashamedly redemptive note that carries through their indie rock, and the faintest echoes of their beginnings in Christian music, means that the very reasons their fans love them so have also earned them a reputation for being, well, a tad uncool.
“Are Gang of Youths too earnest for America?” asked Stereogum. The ABC described Le’aupepe’s lyrics as a “tendency to get all Bono on us.” Somewhere along the way they were labelled “the Ted Lasso of music”, which makes Le’aupepe roar. It’s not that they don’t translate overseas – they do the US late-night shows and European festivals – but it’s nothing like the popularity they enjoy at home. Go to one of their gigs abroad and you will be immersed in the unmistakable hum of hundreds of Australians in one room.
