Boys Night Out
Boys Night Out
Boys Night Out
[3.5/5]
In their transition from screamo-pop wunderkinds to adept screenplay writers, Boys Night Out established themselves as explorers of the sick and twisted’s psyche with their first two EPs and full-lengths. However, on their latest transformation into a bustling, quirky emo-rock quartet-sans keyboardist Kara Dupuy and drummer Brian Southall; replaced by guitarist Andy Lewis (ex-the Fullblast) and pre-Trainwreck stickhandler Ben Arseneau-the band drop nearly all death-dealing pretenses, opting instead to decode their very own problematic personalities (the first song is titled “Get Your Head Straight”). Musically, the band bristle with massive hooks, pop-punk gang vocals and ever-changing fretboard antics. If anything, they actually invoke images of prolific math-pop peers Gatsbys American Dream, especially in the time change-loaded “The Heirs Of Error” as well as “Hey, Thanks” and “Reason Ain’t Our Long Suit.” It even sounds like I Am The Avalanche vocalist Vinnie Caruana joins up for climactic closing sing-along “It Won’t Be Long.” Similarities aside, Boys Night Out weather yet another musical evolution with ease and grace, and while nothing as gruesome as paint thinner dinners or reckless stabbings are offered lyrically, their muscular rock power touched up by a spirited, catchy pop flair teeters on the brink of introspective brilliance. (FERRET) Brian Shultz
ROCKS LIKE:
Gatsbys American Dream’s Gatsbys American Dream
I Am The Avalanche’s I Am The Avalanche
Piebald’s We Are The Only Friends We Have
IN-STORE SESSION
With guitarist Jeff Davis
This is Ben Arseneau’s first album with the band since leaving close to three years ago. Was it awkward at first?
No, it was really easy. Brian [Southall] left the band, and then pretty much the same day I called Ben, [but] it wasn’t like, “Do you wanna be in the band?” It was more, “We’re fucked; we need help. You know some songs already; do you wanna do it?” He [agreed], so we played a few shows. [Eventually] we started jamming with some new song ideas… [and] it just worked. It felt great. It felt like we were kids again. It felt like all of us jamming together; it felt like old times.
You had Machine produce Trainwreck, but this time you went with Lou Giordano, who has a pretty diverse resume himself. Why the change in guard?
We were waiting to record this album for quite a while, and it had to do with money issues, time and scheduling issues with who’s available, if we were gonna tour [instead]… We almost worked with Brian McTernan and Tim O’Heir [before] Lou Giordano’s name came up. We wanted to have big-sounding drums, big guitars, a big rock record-[and he seemed to fit].
[The recording process] was interesting. Machine is a really intense producer-really hands-on, in a really positive way. Lou was involved, but in a different way. Machine was, like, jumping on our backs [and] yelling and stuff, [where] Giordano was more laidback. It wasn’t bad or better; just kinda different.
Lyrically, there’s a lot less on this album about exploring the psyche of the criminally insane. It seems there’s more about the rational but still troubled personalities of people.
Well, the last song [“It Won’t Be Long”] is a pretty standard Boys Night Out song, a fictional story [that] talks about a murderer. But aside from that, it’s a really personal record. Self-loathing, addiction, abuse… It has a pretty consistent theme. We went, “You know what, for once on an album we’re not gonna [write] about killing girls,” and it felt good. [Laughs.] As much as some people like that, we’re growing as people, and, what’s the point? We’re not always mad. We’re not always thinking about murder. It’s a really personal record about what we’re feeling, and we’re not gonna fake it. We’re not thinking, “If kids don’t buy this record, we’re fucked!” We’re gonna write about us. Brian Shultz
