Boys Life...

I really don’t want to count the number of times I’ve mentioned Boys Life on this blog when speaking of another band. I know it has to be quite a bit, which I apologize for, but they were pretty much the head of the class when it came to the whole Midwestern emo sound around here. Anyway, today’s post is actually going to focus on them instead of using them in one of those “RIYL” spots.

Boys Life were great, lets just get that out of the way. Their second and final album Departures and Landfalls is somewhere in my top records of all time. I can’t say where, because that list will most likely never materialize (too much time, and too complicated), but lets just say it’s in there somewhere for sure. The band was formed in 1993 out of the Kansas City area. In their beginning stages the band was a bit rough around the edges, influenced heavily by various ongoing post-hardcore acts at the time. However, even by their first album (Self-Titled), they were already shaping their sound into something incredibly special. Before that the band had already released a couple singles and splits with KC’s Vitreous Humor and Giants Chair. After the release of their first album the band went on did a split 10’’ with fellow Midwesterners Christie Front Drive. To me some of the bands best work can be found on this split, the song “Sight Unseen” is incredibly good. After the split, the band would release one final album, Departures and Landfalls on Cargo, before breaking up. That album undoubtedly helped, if not single handedly, define what Midwestern rock/emo was all about. The songs are plodding and spacious at times, however everything eventually builds itself up so much that it eventually tumbles out of control. Those are the pieces that Boys Life was able to make work so well, especially on Departures and Landfalls.

Boys Life:
Boys Life – Golf Hill Drive [MP3]
Boys Life – Lister [MP3]

Christie Front Drive/Boys Life – Split:
Boys Life – Sight Unseen [MP3]
Boys Life – Two Wheeled Train [MP3]

Departures and Landfalls:
Boys Life – Radio Towers [MP3]
Boys Life – Calendar Year [MP3]

All three of the above release can still be found over at Amazon used and some new. If you don’t already own these, then do yourself a favor and pick these albums up. They’re well worth it.