''Skeleton Jar'' is the second album by Australian rock band

Youth Group Youth Group is an Australian rock band based in Newtown, New South Wales. Built around the vocals of singer Toby Martin and production of Wayne Connolly, the sound of Youth Group is reminiscent of indie rock artists such as Teenage Fanclub, ...

. It was first released in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 22 March 2004, and on 24 May 2005 on

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

in the

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with a re-arranged track listing and one new song. The US version was released in Australia as a "repackaged" album in July 2004. In 2011 the album was voted #98 on Australian radio station

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

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Australian Albums of All Time (Industry List). The album marked a transition point for the band, whose lineup had been stable for the first six years. Over the course of the recording sessions, bassist Andy Cassell and guitarist Paul Murphy quit, to be replaced by Patrick Matthews and Cameron Ellison–Elliott respectively, while Johnno Lattin also played bass on some tracks after Cassell's departure. "All of a sudden everything's gone kind of haywire," songwriter and singer-guitarist Toby Martin said.William Bowe, "The department of youth rocks on," ''Herald Sun,'' 15 July 2004.Michael Dwyer, "The trials of Youth," ''The Age,'' 16 July 2004. Martin said the album added a strong folk flavour to the band's rock roots. He told the ''Herald Sun'': "I've definitely been listening to more older stuff in the time leading up to recording this record—like Dylan and

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

. I really like country and folk music, so I think it's always going to come through. Maybe this time it's come through in a more authentic way, rather than playing with a genre, just playing it because we like it. I think the guitar-picking stuff on this record mostly comes from Bob Dylan or

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridg ...

and that sort of stuff, more folk kind of things." Music videos were produced for the singles "Skeleton Jar," "Shadowland" and "Baby Body."

Track listing

All songs by Youth Group.

Notes

* The song deleted from the 2005 release, "Rosie and the Sea," appeared on the band's "Shadowland" single. * The song "Someone Else's Dream" on the 2005 release was later issued on the band's " Forever Young" single in February 2006.

Personnel

* Toby Martin – vocals, guitar * Cameron Ellison-Elliott – guitar * Patrick Matthews – bass * Danny Lee Allen – drums * Andy Cassell – bass * Johnno Lattin – bass * Paul Murphy – lead guitar

Additional personnel

Wayne Connolly Wayne Paul Connolly is an Australian music producer, audio engineer and musician. From 1991 to 1997 Connolly played lead guitar and sang in guitar group The Welcome Mat and released two studio albums. Since 1994, he has played in Knievel with ...

– pedal steel

References

2004 albums Youth Group albums Ivy League Records albums Epitaph Records albums {{2000s-indie-rock-album-stub