Boyfriends

boyfriends 7

Written by: TL on 07/09/2011 01:45:13

Speaking of bands that have only little online presence, here's a band I can't even find on the first four or five pages of facebook search results, although this might have something to do with their choice of bandname. As it turns out though, Last.fm at least has the scoop on Boyfriends, revealing that they are a 'post-punk' four-piece from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but then that's also as much as I'll be able to provide by way of background information for the "boyfriends" seven inch, which has been sent in for the purposes of this review.

Now normally when I think of post-punk, I think of Joy Division and a whole host of British sounding bands influenced by them but that's pretty far from how Boyfriends sound. Rather they come off as a very typical example of what's going in the grass roots of American punk-rock these days, crafting fuzzy, quirky melodies on low-fi recordings, topped off with raw, off-tune vocals. This stuff in particular reminds me of vintage emo/punk heroes Rites Of Spring as much as it reminds me of more contemporary material, like that of Polar Bear Club (albeit this is rougher) and Living With Lions (in the very early stages of that band). There are three songs on offer, the first of which is "Those Dudes Boys", which is all churning, encouraging guitars and rough shouting, yet with fair tempo variations. The second is "Too Wild For Wild", which starts off with two minutes of emo-type subtle stuff, underscoring a recorded conversation, before actually turning into a song proper in the last two minutes, which sound more or less the same as the first song. Finally, things are closed with "I Heard Punching", which is again more of the same, though it does try to establish a sing-along friendly "whoa-oh" part after the second chorus.

The troublesome thing with a record like this is that Boyfriends don't really do enough over the course of three rather short songs, for me to give any sort of valuable prediction as to whether they'll develop into the next big name in the genre, or throw in the towel within a year. Their chosen style has shown itself to be damn enjoyable no matter how many bands seem to be playing it, but judging from this disc, Boyfriends are still just a rough par for the course, and they need to put more and better songs together, to really show that they mean to go somewhere. Until then, this stuff is really just fodder for them to be playing at probably the smallest venues in their corner of the world, and only comes recommended for fans of the style, and/or people who like to discover bands waaaaay early.

6

Download: It all, for free, right here
For The Fans Of: Rites Of Spring, Polar Bear Club, old Living With Lions
Listen: boyfriends.bandcamp.com

Release Date 15.08.2010
Count Your Lucky Stars



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