Album Review

Boy Crisis – Tulipomania

• 5th Oct 2009

This is the debut album from Brooklyn’s Boy Crisis and to be honest its been met with a fair amount of vitriol from the music press. Having waded through all 11 tracks of ‘Tulipomania’ I can see why.

Basing their sound on a slick white boy funk electronic its ‘erection section / end of the night slow dance’ with the exception of such beauties (ahem) as ‘Sex & Violence’. What is the bemusing thing about this album is that there is a plethora of decent beats to be had from BC’s Rolands etc but their sound is decidedly limp and tired sounding. If it aint erection section, its coffee table lite.

Doubling up on the pain is the cringeworthy lyrics that are ubiquitous through. I thought most bands saw beyond the ‘6th form’ writing format of rhythming their words ‘high as a tree girl, fly like a eagle, groovy just like a movie’ (Sex & Violence’) Yeuch!!! The singer doesn’t help by singing in such a sleazy / heavy breathing style. Its so painful its making me want to scratch!!

I am not sure if BC are trying to

·target a different market
·trying to alienate themselves from all other sounds
·plough their own furrow and be brave but ground breaking, this isn’t.

‘Bohemian Grove’ sounds a tired track lyrically and the band seem to be going through the motions. Come on guys, the album is only halfway through here!!

‘Our love is like candy, who’ll be the prophet, who’ll be the dandy’ – what the hell does that mean? (L’homme). ‘1981’ seems to have taken all the worst bit of some of Prince’s worst homo-erotic sound and slowed them down to a near stop whilst some girl echoes 1981 over the top like some sort of 0898 dirty phone call. Sighs.

The remaining of the album doesn’t warrant reviewing and I am sure you’ve got the gist by now. Simply painful and one to stay away from in 2009.