A few weeks ago the awesome Alex (vocalist from B.O.Y.S) sent me out their album as well as some totally sweet merch which I love! By the way you don’t have to send me free stuff to get a review but it doesnae hurt! Joking aside this is a really great album is great and they are a seriously cool band, really worth checking out.
Released on January 1st, Holy Hoaxes is Band of Young Saints second record. Four years in the making, the expert production coupled with their lyrical and instrumental ability makes this record sound like it could be their third rather than their first. Pulling this off whilst all working full time jobs, doing ALL of their own marketing and recording a documentary about the band is phenomenal; proof of what a hard working band can achieve without a publicist or record company in site.
This is not the only thing different about B.O.Y.S, their overall genre is almost beyond eclectic and seems to be varied on almost every track, something I really enjoyed about the record. I especially love the old timey feel they have created on two of the tracks, Love and Lies and Philistine, using a brilliant gramophone like effect on Alex and John’s voices. Philistine especially is rather gypsyish and the lyrics coupled with the bluesy guitar remind me of the haunting music in the bio-shock video games; “the devils got my soul, got it on credit till my blood runs cold.”
However, the opening track, Pretty Pleas, could not be more different. With a guitar heavy intro of almost a minute long, this feels more like soft rock, with Alex and John’s vocals complimenting each other perfectly on each verse. I love the structure of this song, it’s really non-traditional and there isn’t really chorus, just line after line of brilliant lyrics. “You might shudder in disgust, you’re beautiful and no one cares. You’ve a very truant heart and you’ve got an errant smile, so let down your guard, draw your weapons stay a while.” John especially has such raw emotion coming through his voice here, I love his scream just before the end; it sounds so full of desperate anguish, something I suspect a few of these tracks may be about.
On The Radio also falls in to this vein as it tells the story of young love falling apart. Speaking of this track in a recent interview, bassist Lou Salvaggio said this “was a pastoral narrative based on several different experiences I had in high school. I tend to write in a nostalgic but deeply personal vein.” I love the way the vocals are split up on this one, again I feel like it’s really untraditional as instead of Alex singing from the woman’s perspective and John from the man’s, they both tell the story, as if they are sharing a similar experience.
Another one of Lou’s songs is Christmas Eve which, whilst it sounds different in tempo and tone, lyrically the sadness is still very profound. When discussing this song he said that it “was inspired by a particularly difficult break up during a particularly difficult time in my life. Unfortunately, I discovered that the girl I loved was cheating on me. It was a distraction that caused other aspects of my life to slip away.”
The lyrics “But this love is toxic, it’s written on the cards” really stand out for me as they are so relatable. I think that it’s also really interesting that this song is done in a very sweet, slow and quiet kind of way, right down to the birds twittering away at the end, rather than being angry and loud. It’s unpredictable and different, a good representation of the band itself.
Due to B.O.Y.S entirely eclectic sound, parts of certain songs already felt familiar to me. With lines like “I’ll give you something to believe in” and “Coz we’re young and it’s time for mistakes”, Bridges Burned reminds me so much of old pop-punk bands that I love like Talking Band Sunday and Brand New (the first two records anyway!) which is why it was my favourite. Beware Natives was a close second though as I thought that Alex’s voice on the chorus was just so powerful and stunning “You shut me in you shut me out, you shut me up you shut me down.”
Overall Holy Hoaxes is an impressive body of work put together by people who clearly have an undying passion for what they do. It’s obvious that every track on this record had been given the bands full and undivided attention; a testament to their perfectionist personalities and their impeccable musicianship. I only wish that I was able to see them in all their live show glory so if you live in the Brooklyn area go check them out and let me know what it was like!
You can check out Band of Young Saints over on their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages and you can pick up your copy of Holy Hoaxes from iTunes.