Artist: The Boys
Album: The Boys
Year: 1977
Genre: Power Pop / Punk
The Boys are a UK punk band formed in 1976. I’ve always been curious about that particular genre tag for them. Of all the places punk infected after the Ramones made their debut (this is not an argument, the Ramones are the first punk rock band), the UK may be the area which retained the closest ties to rock and roll. There’s no denying that the first albums by 70s acts such as The Damned, The Clash, Buzzcocks, Eater, The Lurkers and a few other others took major inspiration from MC5, The Kinks, The Stooges, Buddy Holly and, of course, The Beatles and The Stones, and retained those influences until creativity took the different routes. Out of all the 70s era punk rock bands from jolly old England, The Boys may have been the furthest displaced from their leopard print and spikey-haired counterparts. Sure, they had a visual style that fell somewhere between The Clash and The Jam, but their music was much more of a throwback to the music of the preceding decades. It almost sounds ridiculous to say, but if they were donning a full-on mod or “Flock Of Seagulls” look, there’s a chance they may have been somewhere on the fringe or may not have been associated with the punk scene at all. Especially since this was late 70s England where fashion was a huge determination of what kind of band you were.
What is my point? Everything I’m stating lies within the music. The Boys are a pure rock ‘n’ roll band, plain and simple and scatter high energy, 60s Chuck Berry-esque riffs all over this album. Unlike many of their colleagues, they don’t consistently drive the music with just four chords or by bashing away on their instruments 24/7. These guys could play! Is it rough around the edges? Sure, and this record matches the energy and distortion level of The Dickies and Ramones, but there is no way you were going to place The Boys in the same category as early records by bands you typically think of as English punk rock, which was mostly brutish in nature. Their hearts bleed in-your-face rock ‘n’ roll and the perfect production lets it shine through. The songs are blasts of fun and full of hooks you can hang onto for days. They might have the biggest hooks of any punk band at that time…yes, even compared to The Buzzcocks. If you called this record power pop, you wouldn’t be wrong and it is easy to understand how this album is a blueprint for what would become pop punk. If the song “First Time” had ever reached American radio, it would’ve been a huge new wave hit. Hell, a few songs of this album could’ve been hits. The Boys is 44 years old and holds up to this day and it could easily hang with more modern bands in the same vein such as The Exploding Hearts or The Briefs. They’re a band that doesn’t get mentioned as much as they should and this album deserves to be heard because its’ a gem!
Listen to "First Time" here.
IIRC some of the members were originally in a 70s glam band called the Hollywood Brats and some of the songs the Boys later did were recorded by them first. They had a lot of record company issues so people don't really know them.
ReplyDeleteOf the four original Boys albums, I think Alternative Chartbusters is the best one by far, and one of the best LPs to come out of the UK punk scene. The first three are all solid though, with the fourth one being a bit weaker IMHO.