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Boyracer: To Get a Better Hold, You've Got to Loosen Yr Grip
In the ever-changing world of indie rock, with its flash-in-the-pan fads and turbulent trends, there exists an underappreciated core of bands that suffer from what I like to call Walters Syndrome. Walter, of course, was the character played by Bill Pullman in the 1993 Nora Ephron romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle. Oh, come on, you remember him he was Meg Ryans fianc, the guy she dumps for Tom Hanks. This always pissed me off, because Walter, the poor chump, does absolutely nothing wrong: hes caring, loving, well-off, handsome, etc. Then Meg Ryan ditches him because he lacks Hanks doughy charm and psychotically precocious son. But WALTER DOESNT GET MAD! He spouts bullshit like, I guess you have to follow your heart, like some marketing executives idea of emasculated feminine wet dream perfection, yet he still ends up losing the girl. The message seems to be that consistency, dedication, and loyalty mean nothing in the face of an exciting new crush. If you can follow my train of thought here, this epitomizes how bands that suffer from Walters Syndrome get treated. It means nothing if a band releases great album after great album, because if they lack novelty or a gimmick, then they get taken for granted and/or forgotten in the stream of Next Big Things. Boyracer has been around since 1990, consistently producing transcendent fuzzed-out pop, but their newest album isnt even listed on the supposedly omniscient All Music Guide, and I have yet to see it in any store. But Im sure theyre not bitter; they probably walk around the house in their bathrobes and slippers, muttering, I guess you have to follow your heart. But dammit, they should just get mad and trash a hotel room or something, because they are worthy of better (Are they being self-referential in the chorus to opening track Sarah and Sarah when they sing, You deserve much better than he is capable of? No, probably not, those modest bastards.) By now, its obvious Ive abandoned objectivity (or to be more accurate, the pretense of objectivity), and Im just going to write an unabashed love letter to Boyracer, sealed with a kiss and dampened with drool. So let the sycophancy begin! Frontman and ringleader Stewart Anderson started Boyracer in England, where it fell apart and reformed with different members several times, finally disbanding for good in 1996. In 2000, Anderson got married, moved to the USA, reformed Boyracer with Yankee compatriots, and started touring and recording again. Despite the time and mileage that have passed, little has changed regarding the music. On the surface, every Boyracer song sounds the same: the crackling and compressed DIY recordings, the frantically strummed acoustic guitar completely immersed in feedback and white noise cymbals, the nasal megaphone voice, the British accent, female backup vox, and occasional xylophone or drum machine to mix it up. But all this simply means that while other bands waste their time trying to play 400 different genres adequately, Boyracer concentrates on playing one genre impeccably. I guess when youve been around for more than a decade, you gain the confidence to focus on what you enjoy best, rather than spreading yourself thin by trying to please everyone. And so you get about 20 songs (quantity and quality!) on an album, each one a string of deceitfully simple pop pearls. My personal favorites are the aforementioned Sarah and Sarah, kicking off the album with a little more than a minute of over-caffeinated frenzy, and Razor (making a repeat appearance from the Boyfuckingracer best-of album), an odd 5/4 ballad that mixes acoustic guitar arpeggios with some fucked-up distorted bass. Id keep going and name-check song after song, but this review is rapidly approaching the line between glowing and embarrassing; and Im afraid Im making those sensitive Boyracers blush. So I guess Ill wrap up by saying that any kind of long-term relationship, whether romantic or musical, is dependent not only on giddy attraction but also on the assurance that you can rely on your partner. Ill take trustworthy Boyracer over some unproven young punks any day, just like I would take Walter over that loser Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks was in Joe Versus the Volcano. That movie sucked.
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