This week we’ll be taking a look at the albums from U.K. indie outfit Boyracer, who has just released their latest in June of 2020. The band has taken huge strides over the course of almost two decades, surviving a number of hiatuses and changes in membership through the years. Despite all of this, Steward Anderson’s brainchild still remains strong. We’ll take a look at their earlier material leading up to their latest release. A sort of follow-along to one of the most productive indie bands of our time.
The bands first LP, entitled More Songs About Frustration and Self Doubt is a staggering 24-track collection released way back in 1994. From this track listing alone we can already see the makings of a prolific creative force, as we have enough material here to fill up several EPs on their own. The production here is scrappy and raw, but the band works around these limitations with variety and style. With songs ranging from all-out noise rock to acoustic and twee-sounding pop, we find the band’s exploration across all of these genres in its purest form straight from the garage recording. This was how bedroom pop sounded like before it was cool. Although back in those days the equipment was too bulky and it had to be moved to the garage.
The album opens with “A Friend For Life” – a two minute romp of melancholic punk. “Chanteuse” is a more subdued pop song with slow burning riffs and airy vocals. “Fifteen” is completely acoustic, giving off the vibe of something unearthed from an old cassette.
“Jazz B.” is anything but what the title suggests. This is where their noise stretches out the most, with rubbery sounding bass conflicting with the amp-busting guitars. A minimalist production resulting in a combustion of sound for this audacious two minute banger. “Second Is Always Second” is the most ambitious song in this album. Running almost at 10 mins, (1/6th of the album runtime!) the band mixes their quiet and noise elements in this song. Bridging themes of melancholy, anger and regret into one brooding package.
More Songs About Frustration And Self Hate proves that you don’t need the fanciest gear to rock out. What’s important is for you to just start, and what a way for Boyracer to start off their career than with a cathartic punk album that’s an hour long. With resourcefulness and dedication such as this, it’s no wonder why they’re still chugging along in the race.