Imagine for a moment that you don’t live in the United States (for those of you outside of America, it should be a fairly easy task). Now picture your first trip visiting the States is a stop in the middle of Texas during a giant music festival. And Hatcham Social frontman Toby Kidd thought television exaggerated the American lifestyle.
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After years of playing together, touring and recording, Austin’s own The Strange Boys saw their debut full-length, The Strange Boys…And Girls Club, hit the streets last week. Now they’re prepping for a major tour that will, in all likelihood, be bringing them somewhere close to you. Since they’re going pretty much everywhere.
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Since SxSW is over, it’s time to get on to the next chain of events happening down in good ol’ Austin, Texas. We’ve got this year’s Chaos in Tejas line-up for you, and this year looks like it’s going to be one of the best yet.
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With the time change and sunshine fast approaching and the prospect of long afternoons on the lawn running into late nights at the local dive becoming more feasible, The Strange Boys arrive just in time to offer up a nice little soundtrack to your inevitably hazy Spring. And Girls Club, the first full-length offering from the Dallas-born, Austin-honed foursome, is equal parts The Kinks, Dylan, The Yardbirds and a little flare of those bluesy 50s Sun Records.
It’s kind of funny how often you might find yourself speaking of the 50s or 60s in relation to a new group and their affectations toward the heyday of pop arrangements, but with The Strange Boys the sense is this is a genuine collection of old souls growing up in the heart of Texas. Muddy Waters shows up on “To Turn A Tune Or Two” while Dave Davies shows up to give you an updated take on Kink Kontroversy’s “I Am Free” on the Boys’ “Then” Or so you might think by the sound of it. These guys have an amazing knack for writing simple rhythm and blues tunes that seem ripped right from your old record compilations. While tearing into “Probation Blues” the group channels the five live Yardbirds, and on “They’re Building The Death Camps” it’s Bringing It All Back Home-era Dylan (Ryan Sambol’s vocals in any other act would probably grate 4 minutes in, but here they ramble poetically Dylan-esque).
It’s hard to sound like you’re giving credit when consistently referencing older acts, so it must be said that And Girls Club, is undoubtedly original material with that tip of the hat to the inspiring 50s and 60s. The highlights are numerous, as with each listen another track has shimmied its way into your heart. “This Girl Taught Me A Dance” is probably the first track that will be at the forefront of your consciousness, with blistering high-end and a moment for each of the four instruments to absolutely shine. Next on your hit list is surely “Heard You Want To Beat Me Up,” a cut that is a modern tale of frightened passive-aggressiveness disguised as a golden oldie. Melody takes its turn at the forefront during “No Way For A Slave To Behave” while “Death And All The Rest” is a front seat to the whiskey soaked and smoky honkytonks of the South. Again, it’s an album of 16 hits, and at a run time of a mere 36 minutes it’s easy to just hit repeat and find a new way to love each track. Two personal favorites are “A Man You’ve Never Known” for its subtle catchiness and lazy hook, and “Poem Party” for the driving interplay between drums (provided by the aptly named Matt Hammer) and bass (easily overlooked low end, Philip Sambol).
The somewhat lo-fi production of And Girls Club gives you that nostalgia-laden warmth of an old vinyl without the frustration of non-automatic repeat, which is a great thing for The Strange Boys. Given the quick run time and the ease of beginning again this new LP will undoubtedly be found spinning through most of the days in your near future.
We know you’ve all been planning your TX days and nights without worrying about the Levi’s®/FADER Fort, because you already knew that it’s all day, every day from Wednesday, March 18 through Saturday, March 21. And we know you already had planned to be there regardless, you were just waiting to hear where it is and who would be there. Well, now you know.
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