I had never heard of The Friday Night Boys before being handed this album to review. I walked into it with absolutely no expectations at all. I didn’t even know what genre I was about to get in my ears. Journey with me through “That’s What She Said,” TFNB’s new EP.
Track 1 – Chasing A Rock Star
We are greeted with a bouncy drum beat and a happy guitar intro. Have we heard this song before? Yes and no. We have never heard this song in particular, but we have listened to Pop Punk before, so we have heard this intro before. That’s ok though, you either like Pop Punk or you don’t (if you don’t, stop listening RIGHT NOW). I do, so I listen on. WHOA! Shortest verse ever! Twenty seconds into the song and we’ve already reached the chorus. I’m bobbing my head, this music is super catchy, but these lyrics are inane.
Chorus:
“Chasing a rock star
But where will you go?
You’re chasing him too far
The way you move so slow
You swear you’re innocent
But I know that you’ll regret
Chasing a rock star now…
Get over yourself”
Ok, juvenile lyrics, super catchy music, song made up of mostly chorus. I assume I’ll hear this on the radio tomorrow. Let’s see what else we’ve got.
Track 2 – That’s What She Said
Keyboard intro… There is no keyboard in this band. Drum machine drums… Doesn’t this band have a drummer? This makes me frown. There’s a serious trend nowadays of over-produced music (too many vocal effects, hyper-sampled everything, instruments showing up on CDs that are non existent on stage). It makes for great sounding CD’s, but it’s a pet peeve of mine. I like listening to an album and knowing that this band can deliver the same sound live. Anyway… moving on. My brain goes into full “Pop Punk” mode and I’m not even listening to the lyrics anymore. What was that!? I rewind the track back to 2:30 to confirm that, indeed, there was a guitar sweep in that transition. It was brief, but it woke me back up. It’s followed by what I believe might be the 15th chorus in the song and a fade out.
Track 3 – Celebrity Life
Oh! The guitar is doing more things. The lyrics haven’t gotten any more intelligent, but this yet another catchy bouncy song that has me bobbing my head. The guitar fills throughout have me smiling. !!!!! GUITAR SOLO! An awesome one! Where did that come from? Now I’m paying attention again. Enough to catch the last chorus about the girl who would do anything to get famous… Whoops.
Track 4 – High School
This title worries me. My brain is threatening to tune out the lyrics again.
End of chorus:
“I guess graduating changes nothing at all…”
Brain turn off.
Guitar solo.
Brain turn on.
I don’t know if maybe I just haven’t been paying attention in the past, but I am not used to shredding solos in my Pop Punk. I think this may actually be evidence of Guitar Hero affecting the way our music is made. That is genuinely awesome. What’s he singing about? Oh, life being just like high school. Next track please.
Track 5 – Thursday Night Pregame
Backstreet boys vocal harmony intro. I’m smiling again. The drummer mixes it up some with his beat in this song. Is that some double pedal work I hear? Again, my heads bobbing and I have no idea what he’s singing about. This song “whoas” to a close, and I’m done with my Friday Night Boys experience.
Final thoughts? I’m absolutely and completely torn. On the one hand, I like them. I’ll be putting them on my Zune and listening in the future. On the other hand, when my friends make fun of me for listening to music aimed at 14 year old girls… I’m not going to be able to argue. If you are looking for deep, meaningful lyrics; this album is not for you. If you are a fan of sing-a-long choruses and catchy music, littered with some genuinely surprising guitar work, give The Friday Night Boys a moment of your time.
