Boyfriends

A Discography Of Mediocre Punk Rock (2009-2012)

Written by: PP on 10/10/2021 14:47:40

Boyfriends are a relic from an era long bygone where gravelly, rough-around-the-edges type of emotionally-charged punk rock was all the rage. They released a series of EPs, split records, and participated in compilations between 2009 and 2012 that have been hard to come by, and so Count Your Lucky Stars decided to release the entire 18-song Boyfriends discography in one record to give credit where credit was due. With members of Snowing and 1994! in the mix, these guys were one of the many, many bands in emo revival during those years where you had to be truly intimate with the scene to have discovered them from the wealth of other great, similarly undiscovered bands that were blossoming from the Pennsylvania scene in particular.

In this case, a video speaks more than a thousand words, as it embodies exactly what bands like Boyfriends were all about: incredible passion at live shows, unadulterated energy and honest songwriting worn loud-and-proud across their distortion-laden sleeves. With roughened vocals that were explosively delivered in the vein of Bear Vs Sharks, Boyfriends wrote numerous cult classics like "BF1", "Those Dudes Boys" and "Marc Is Gary" that went undiscovered by the scene at large.

Listening to them today on "A Discography Of Mediocre Punk Rock (2009-2012)", a decade later, the lo-fi production value reduces their impact somewhat, but underneath the messy soundscape is a treasure-trove of angular riffs, intricate melodies, and, most of all, palpable passion and emotional charge few bands display these days. If you've ever heard the old records by Boys Night Out, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's designed precisely for the basement-style explosions of energy we occasionally see at our local basement venue UnderWerket here in Copenhagen. And by injecting gravelly punk rock influenced by Small Brown Bike and the whole Midwestern punk scene in general, the result is a flurry of emotionally charged gruff vocals and fast-paced, complex guitars that seem to go in every direction all at once.

Essentially, "A Mediocre Of Punk Rock (2009-2012)" is a tribute to a sound that has largely disappeared from today's scene. It documents the up-and-downs of similarly emotional bands that were likewise never discovered by non-locals to the scene. It's therefore to be viewed as a fan's only type of a collection, one for historians and enthusiasts who want to turn every stone left unturned from the golden days of emo revival a good decade back or so. Boyfriends were a solid band, and with better production to their tracks, they would've been huge.

Download: BF1, BF2, Those Dudes Boys
For the fans of: Bear Vs Shark, Small Brown Bike, Bars Of Gold, (old) Boys Night Out, 1994!
Listen: Facebook

Release date 07.05.2021
Count Your Lucky Stars

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