Make Yourself Sick,
Boys Night OutAnother band I heard about from the forums - proof that opening your eyes can be as beneficial as opening your ears sometimes. Anyway, Boys Night Out are signed to Ferret Records and play a kind of aggressive post-hardcore style that is beautifully contrasted by some fantastic melodies and wonderfully aggressive lyrics. Violentcore anyone? (joke..) It's not every day you see a concept album based on a murderer or a bunch of violent deaths, so this adds a subtle flavouring to the album.
Throw song titles such as 'I Got Punched In The Nose For Sticking My Face In Other People's Business' and you get the picture. This is not your run-of-the-mill band. The aforementioned opening song has a brilliantly melodic guitar riff which runs alongside the verses, only to be met with violent screams where the choruses should be and a gang-style middle eight breakdown which works perfectly. Oh, and it's not one for the squeamish either, but then this record is just brilliantly warped. '(Just Once) Let's Do Something Different' is a peach of a track as the guitars pound away while 'It's Dylan, You Know The Drill' starts off slower and more considered before the song starts. Each song is a lyrical masterpiece - I can't emphasise that enough - as they tell a story each time. The latter track has the corking "You know that I love you, but now I just can't shut you up, So now I'll have to chop you up and I'll just wait until I get caught" line which pretty much sums up the tone of the record.
But it's the changes in time signatures and the fact that structure goes out of the window which makes 'Make Yourself Sick' such an interesting prospect and concept, especially when some of the catchy bits on here are equal to those on the more commercial bands that litter the genre. 'Hold On Tightly, Let Go Lightly' introduces programming to the fold which makes it even more interesting, with the vocals quieter and the repetitive sample creating an eerie effect. And so it goes on, the more guitar-based 'The Subtleties That Make Mass Murderers Out Of Otherwise Decent Human Beings' is as catchy as it gets while the driving 'The Fine Art Of Making It Out Alive' kicks like a mule as it tells the tale of suicide and substance abuse. Even the closing 'Yeah, No..I Know..', which, for me, creates the tension and mood perfect for a soundtrack where someone dies a slow, painful and disgusting death, is fantastic.
This is really good; musically it's not that much different to the other bands in the associated scenes but if you imagine A Static Lullaby with extra melodies, you won't be far away. Well worth checking out, if only for the brilliant, imaginitive lyrics.
www.boysnightout.net
Ferret Records
Paul
