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Album Details
- Artist: Boys Like Girls
- Album: Boys Like Girls
- Label: Columbia
- Year of Release: 2006
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: symphony on 2006-11-25
RecommendI could say negative things such as generic and poppy, but the former would be inaccurate and the latter would be true and it shouldn't be cruel to say it.
They redid their demos of "Me, You, and My Medication" and "The Great Escape," which are better but they lose some of the poppy vibe which isn't a good thing but it isn't bad either. "Holiday" is their attempt at a slow song which isn't a failure but it definitely needs improvement. "Thunder" is a previous attempt at the slow song, with a little more success, Martin hitting the lowness of his voice then the slightly bitter highs.
Now, I'd like to delve into what some may call a weakness in the lyrics region of the album. How can one not expect the touch if teenage angst from a group of four guys just coming out of high school? Exactly. Martin Johnson has voice which probably does build anything, is not innovative, and could probably be taken, placed in another band, and do the same thing. Is that a verbal way of saying he is generic? If you view it as such, so be it.
Are songs about girls, girls, girls generic? Most definitely. See: Valencia, Amber Pacific, All Time Low, other bands in the genre. They don't bring anything new to the table. They just do what everyone else does slightly better.
Basically, they aren't a Cute Is What We Aim For; this isn't perfect but it definitely isn't horrible for a debut album and there is a lot of unreached potential.
User Reviews and Comments
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Log In or Register to Rate Albumson 2008-08-07 kev_stev Said:
I think "Thunder" is catchy as hell. I know this band is the typical marketable, emo band, but hell, I enjoy the song, so whatever.
Not Rated
Review:
on 2006-12-20 AndyFromJersey Said:
Holy hell. I finally understand how the mind of a thirteen year old girl works. It’s all here in the eponymous debut of pop punk’s latest cookie cutter factory made shit merchants Boys Like Girls. I’m impressed. The record companies have really got bands like this down pat; literally every aspect of this album, from its blandly postmodern nineteen eighties influenced album cover to its carefully constructed “anthems,” all of which, despite being generally three and a half minutes in length, are entirely too long. Better yet is the seventh grade poetry of front man Martin Johnson. I can tell the story for this band without even knowing the facts, which admittedly, I don’t: Four popular guys in your high school quit the baseball team and learned guitar in tenth grade. Then these same guys started your town’s obligatory wildly popular Blink-182 influenced pop punk band, and penned hundreds of three chord pseudo rockers about heart break. despite the fact that among other things, they made fun of anyone with a band t-shirt the year before, and now mindlessly fuck the weekend away with the slightly overweight sunglasses donning senior girl who sits across from you in algebra. Now, back in reality, you wind up with lyrics like “Love is just a chemical creation” and the even more poignant “Today is the worst day of my life.” Martin Johnson should be shot. Maybe then the other three guys in this band can spend a few years atoning for their sins and join bands with talent. All bitterness aside, the catchy and blatantly marketable style of poppy, driving “punk” Boys Like Girls deliver is a refreshing departure from most music of today. That is, if you’ve never listened to Fall Out Boy. Or The Starting Line. Or The Plain White T’s. Or The Rocket Summer. Or Hellogoodbye. Or Punchline. But if you’re into that, that’s fine. You’ll love their two or three songs with the oh-so ironic drum machine in the background (“Wow! This sounds like my other favorite underground band, The Postal Service!”), and whatever crappy, mid-album piece of filler I just listened to with the acoustic intro that sounds like a b-side A New Found Glory decided wasn’t good enough to go on their last album. It doesn’t matter. I quite literally can not tell one of these songs apart from another, nor would I even know what band I was listening to if I hadn’t just wasted forty minutes of my life starting at a generically hip logo with their name on it. Someone should tell these guys to pack up the girl pants and eyeliner. “I wish I could take back all the shit that I have done,” comes another brilliant zinger from Martin Johnson. But it’s not too late boys. Won’t you take it back? Won’t you please?
Rating: 2/10
