Boygenius

• Boygenius EP [Matador EP, 2018] **
• The Record [Interscope, 2023] A
• The Rest [Interscope EP, 2023] **

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Boygenius EP [Matador EP, 2018]
Shelve this determinedly quiet, occasionally sharp-tongued introduction posthaste or it may waft away on the next stiff breeze ("Stay Down," "Salt in the Wound") **

The Record [Interscope, 2023]
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus are all flat-out sopranos committed to articulate songwriting, crystalline pronunciation, moderate tempos, and rocking out when circumstances require. Although two of them were raised strictly Christian, all three are now staunch leftists who identify lesbian or bisexual without being ideological about it or claiming their love lives are hunky dory. Quite the contrary--quite a few of these 12 memorable first-person songs navigate stumbling relationships, awkward road trips, failed post-breakup patch jobs, or reflections on a rapidly receding past. There are awkward meetups in dive bars and quasi-confessional karaoke sessions; there's one where a prospective partner warns "I might like you less now that you know me so well" and another that simply admits that the singer might be "Writin' the words/To the worst love song you ever heard." But they have a sense of humor and never stop trying, so that something in the committed intelligence of their music makes you feel they're going to get where they're trying to go if they haven't arrived already but don't know it yet. A

The Rest [Interscope EP, 2023]
Just as we humans are but motes destined to vanish into the eye of God, so these four leftovers are but outtakes stranded in music's unchartable sea of melody and groove ("Afraid of Heights," "Voyager") **