Cruel Youth sounds like The Ronettes on Oxy. Each song a narcotic lullaby, subtly laced with switchblade lyrics. A psychedelic jingle you might hear while waiting in line at a Western Union, or a laptop symphony soundtracking a car crash in slow motion. It’s as if Phil Spector or The Beach Boys had bottled the pure essence of young love captured by their 1960’s sweetheart songs…years later to be uncorked, cut, cooked, and shot up as a quick fix for modern dreamers’ demand for instant desire.