Today, Michael Younker (Gymshorts, Triathalon), independently releases his debut EP Sweet Things, which yanks the lo-fi origins of garage rock / big riffin’ into clarity – as if we’re able to put on the glasses (as opposed to the rom-com camp of shedding them; the EP and the creator would appreciate the irony in the opposite of tradition), and finally see in hi fidelity. Younker will also play an album release show in NYC on July 27 with Country Squares (members of UV-TV) and Pink Mexico. Listen to Sweet Things here.

Sweet Things is just about as close to DEVO as you can get. You can hear the personality in every instrumentation – from the wandering-of-the-dial radio static that crackles ahead of the opening title track, to the to the crashing of drums as if you’re in a half-full garage with the kit, sound bouncing off the walls, to the acknowledgment of the pick on the strings you can gleam from the frenetically-strummed distorted guitars.

Of Sweet Things, Younker says, “Sonically & lyrically, Sweet Things feels like the kid who ate too much sugar, bounced off walls, and passed out on the floor. Music of obsession, excess, indulgence, and….consequences? From the self-sacrificing adoration of ‘Anything You Want,’ to submitting to the allure of the shiny object in ‘Heart Control,’ each track embodies a character who is, at once, altruistic and hopelessly self-involved – Is it me? Maybe. Probably. It’s possible….but I don’t even like candy.”

Younker’s voice sits somewhere between Christina Halladay’s brutally charismatic full throttle feeling and the bratty, sassy, tossing-aside cadence of Broncho’s Ryan Lindsey, landing him somewhere near Wavves or Cyndi Lauper on “She Bop.” The EP has varied influences, including the omni-present Ramones, Violent Femmes, Billy Childish that you’d expect. But, the unashamed big rock motifs on The Donnas’ Spend The Night haunt “Sweet Things” like friendly ghosts laughing with you. The hard hat hairdo Honda helmets from the DEVO commercials incite a lighthearted cynicism on how insane it is to consume the way we do, reflected in the simplicity in the lyrics of “Bad News” – “C’mon, give it a go / You can’t make this up / C’mon, give it a go / And I won’t give it up.”

Of art and life in general, he says, “There’s something I find very brave about humor…it’s a thin line and I always admire artists/anyone who uses it well.”

Aside from making music, Michael Younker is a Detroit-born, New York-based production designer and cat dad. Perhaps deceptively un-self-conscious, Younker’s debut Sweet Things is as complete and bratty as any other piece of his portfolio; greased up and polished grime.