Young Medicine

Young Medicine craft an audacious blend of metalcore guitar riffs and percussion, dance-pop hooks, and boy-band vocal layers, deliberately dissolving boundaries between pop and rock. Their sound delivers expansive scale and flamboyant excess, polished to satisfy mainstream dance-pop listeners yet fortified with vigorous rock drive that pushes the music into fresh ground. The band first gained traction in 2018 via a high-energy reinterpretation of *NSYNC’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” then followed in 2019 with their debut full-length album Interlinked, which showcased original material.

Bret Liber on keyboards and vocals joined forces with guitarist and vocalist Josh Hurst to establish Young Medicine in Kansas City, Kansas. The pair had previously collaborated in the metalcore outfit Bella Muerte, launched in 2008 and introduced on record with the three-song EP ’Bout Damn Time in 2010; that was succeeded in April 2012 by the five-track release Better Than Nothing. Five additional digital tracks appeared between December 2012 and November 2013 before Bella Muerte dissolved, prompting Liber and Hurst to pursue a new direction in 2014. They enlisted bassist Peter Romano and retained Bella Muerte drummer Mace May, began performing live that year, and earned recognition as Best Alternative Band of 2015 from the Kansas City entertainment journal Project Backstage.

Throughout 2014 the group issued several digital singles, among them the originals “She Makes Me Do Dirty Things” and “Oh! The Horror,” a version of Shiny Toy Guns’ “You Are the One,” and a refreshed take on the Bella Muerte song “Guilty Pleasures, Desperate Measures.” Embracing a self-sufficient approach, they handled their own recording, video production, and extensive touring. Their visibility increased in 2018 with the robust yet melodic cover of *NSYNC’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” which attracted substantial streaming attention. (Michael McEvoy had already taken over drums from Mace May by the time of that release.) Young Medicine delivered their first full-length album, Interlinked, in August 2019, featuring the tracks “Shinjū,” “Not Human,” and “Living Fiction.” The set reached number 22 on the Heatseekers chart, and an instrumental edition appeared in November 2019.