It must really be different in LA. Though they take their name from a Herman Wouk novel about a writer moving to New York, everything about Youngblood Hawke screams California: palm trees, skateboards, bleach. With ‘We Come Running,’ the new band is unapologetically itself. The result is what you might call disco Nickelback: a precisely produced, candy-like single, poised to build momentum for the Aug. 14 release of their debut album on Universal Republic.

The track is as much stadium filler as club stomper. There’s something of fun. in here, as well as Andrew W.K., possibly even LMFAO. The strongest comparison is to Passion Pit, but while ‘Gossamer’ revealed emotional complexity, Youngbloode Hawke invite charges of saccharine vapidity: You need only see the ridiculous videos for members Simon Katz and Sam Martin’s former band Iglu and Hartly to see that these guys are openly absurd — the dudes tattooed ampersands to themselves.

But the ridiculosity is well invested. All that goofy-serious energy is pumped into ‘We Come Running,’ an over-the-top, and perhaps overdone, debut single, one full of children’s choirs, bells and gang choruses — and maybe that’s all you need.

Listen to Youngblood Hawke, ‘We Come Running’

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