Boys Like Girls Review

On September 8th indie rockers Boys Like Girls came out with their much awaited sophomore album “Love Drunk.” After releasing their self-titled debut “Boys Like Girls” on April 1st, 2008, the Boys seemingly came out of nowhere and hit the music scene. With smash hits like “The Great Escape” and “Hero/Heroine”, BLG stole millions of genuine indie listener’s hearts.

Originally from Boston, frontman Martin Johnson, drummer John Keefe, bassist Bryan Donahue and guitarist Paul DiGiovanni played in numerous amount of bands over their high school days and then solidified BLG by putting up demos online. Producer Matt Squire (also incorporated with Panic! at the Disco) heard the demos and gave the band a call, getting BLG off to their start.

Their first album was real clean and straight-forward. It was like they were just trying to just get by with a good album, not a great one. So it really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for a usual alternative rock listener. A solid bass-line, some power chords, a two-one beat and emotional lyrics, it was the same old deal. Yet you could tell that there was something special within them. And I think they showed everyone that in this album.

“Love Drunk” came out on September 9th and debuted at #8 on “Billboards Top 200” with over 40,000 albums already sold. In this album it’s easy to tell that BLG wanted to try out some new things without losing their original sound. For instance, they use an electric/modern type of approach for most of their songs. But songs like “The First One” and “Chemicals Collide” keep BLG in check as they try to keep their sound by using powerful lyrics with great harmonies and moderately heavy power chords.

They contrast those songs with tracks like “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” and “Heart Heart Heartbreak,” which consist of Avenged Sevenfold-esk guitar solos. But I feel like in these songs they’re trying to be something different than what they really are. Almost like they are trying to show everyone that they aren’t only touchy feely ballad songwriters, but they really rockout when they feel the need to. That’s not to say they don’t have some sweet ballads in this album.

Two Is Better Than One: My personal favorite track on the record. And no, it’s not just because it features Taylor Swift. That aspect only adds to the greatness. This song can appeal to anyone who has ever had a love interest or a boyfriend or girlfriend. There’s a cello and violin background that gives off an emotional feeling perfectly complimented by a deep acoustic guitar. The best part about the song has to be the fact that Martin’s rough but soft singing intertwines with Taylor’s sweet high falsetto voice. I give the track four out of four stars.

Love Drunk: Great song. If you buy the bonus track CD you get an acoustic version of this song that will for sure blow your mind. This song has a perfect BLG feel that goes throughout the entire record. It has a real cotton candy atmosphere to it due to some cheesy chords that make you think of a carnival on a Saturday night. The song has a very powerful passionate chorus and some sick guitar licks in the background with a get-up-and-go drum part that makes me think of “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple. About a three and a half out of four stars.

Overall, this album is a great, solid alternative rock record. If you’re not really into tight pants and a touch of guyliner every now and then, don’t listen. But if you like to rock out, feel good and enjoy slappin on those tight purple pants, “Love Drunk” is the album for you. At times when I was listening to it, I felt like BLG was trying too hard to be the same as they were before. Some of the tracks have a real 80’s Brit-Pop beat to it that I really didn’t enjoy too much but it all evened out in the end. Solid record. For the entire record, I give it three and a half out of four stars.