Review Summary: Similar to the greatest four word phrase ever that its name was borrowed from, The Friday Boys’ debut can simultaneously be cheesy and fun, despite it eventually getting old.
For some bands success is just inevitable. After stumbling across The Friday Night Boy’s myspace sometime this past Spring and hearing one minute of a tune, I scrolled down to see what label they were on in an attempt to figure out how I had never of a band so close to home. Shockingly enough, a label was nowhere to be found. I was perplexed, as things just did not add up. Here was a group who was crafting massive hooks, had solid enough music work, was currently touring, who had All Time Low’s same management team and, hell, a group who was good enough looking. It was obvious I wasn’t the only one enjoying this Virginia based quartet, as that day alone their plays exceeded five digits. When summer came and the group made an appearance on TRL, I knew the days were numbered before the inevitable happened. So let’s review: sugary powerpop tunes, big hooks, good looks. Is it redundant to say they signed to Fueled By Ramen? Possibly. Regardless, it is safe to say that the group is in the process of their breakthrough and that by summer of next year they will be a standard name in their genre.
The Friday Night Boys, for the most part, is nothing new or out of the ordinary. The group, nevertheless, have this style of borderline guilty pleasure
pop punk down quite well, as the five tracks presented on
That’s What She Said will show. An attractive and bouncy riff opens “Chasing a Rockstar” before the group unleashes an enormous chorus a mere 20 seconds into the record. Lead singer Andrew Goldstein has an incredibly smooth and polished sound voice, which boosts the already strong vocal hooks up several notches. This aspect is without question the driving force of the group, as their format of palm muted verses with subtle riffs and a ‘don’t bore us get to the chorus’ attitude is by no means one the quartet can call their own. Regardless, a well balanced use of a half-time choruses and occasional double time instrumental breaks will get the opener stuck in your head, whether you want it to or not. The group follows a similar format for most of the record, save for the closer which feels like a boy-band tune at parts. The opening whoa-oh’s of “Thursday Night Pregame” end up delightfully cheesy, as the group shows a definite pop influence throughout the track. While the auto-tuned section in the bridge is one step over the edge, the undeniable pop aspects presented throughout the rest of the song turn out far better than they should with their typical execution.
With a style as common as the one performed, a few surprises are necessary to hold the attention of listeners. The record delivers several and proves it does not need to rely solely on vocal hooks. While bassist Robby Reider rarely deviates from the expected root notes, drummer Chris Barret comes through with some rather pleasing beats and fills. He seems so aware of when to move to half-time and his timely switches allow for well-flowing tracks. Barret’s sampled beats come out great in the first verse of the title track, allowing for a huge crescendo later on. The title track is the first one to show that, surprisingly enough, Goldstein and Mike Toohey are quite competent guitarists. While the song is led by a groovy snyth sample and an expectedly irresistible vocal hook, the sweeping section leading into the final chorus really makes the song. A timely key change is utilized in the final section, as they take full advantage of the momentum change end the song in remarkable fashion. “Celebrity Life” is the first time that the group’s construction really does not work out for the better, as it is painfully obvious that the chorus was just about the only focus of the song. While catchy enough, the verses begin to tire as things sound rather plain and forced. The solo present is rather random and hardly fits, yet it generates a much needed fun factor to the tune and makes it listenable. When it comes down it, this fun factor is what makes this rather sugary record work. When it is absent the record significantly suffers.
Thankfully that aforementioned scenario sparingly occurs, as The Friday Night Boys have created an enjoyable little EP. The record is dominated with impressive vocal hooks and some surprisingly good guitar work, but ultimately succeeds because the group never takes themselves too seriously. It allows for some delightfully tacky moments, which the record has several of, to work where they would otherwise fall short. Despite the record’s predictable nature, it has some dazzling ideas; after all I don’t know I’ve ever heard a band on Fueled By Ramen sweep and change keys in a song. Even with these surprises there is a definite guilty pleasure vibe which persists throughout
That’s What She Said and its short length certainly makes it more tolerable. The ‘catchy’ and ‘fun’ adjectives used to describe The Friday Night Boys could be slapped onto just about every other band in their genre. There is, however, something about their carefree and moderately cheesy tendencies which just might be so wrong they’re right, as these five tunes will echo in your head whether or not you desire them to.
