Love Drunk＜Magenta Vinyl＞

Boys Like Girls' self-titled debut album was an unexpected success, eventually going gold. Devoid of any hit singles or a truly distinctive sound, the album seemed to catch on because it was a perfect distillation of the emo pop sound with no rough edges to scare people away. For the follow-up, 2009's Love Drunk, the band sticks to the same basic template of super slick, glossily produced emo pop with uptempo songs that sound stadium singalong-friendly and ballads that seem destined to melt teenage girls' hearts. The difference this time is that the songs are better written and hookier, especially the rockers. "She's Got a Boyfriend Now" and "Contagious" sound like 2000s updates of the classic '80s sound of pop/rockers like Bryan Adams and Rick Springfield; "Real Thing" even conjures up the red leather and headbanded ghost of Loverboy. Strip away a few of the modern things like Auto-Tune and programmed drums, and there you are. These very catchy, super fun rockers comprise two-thirds of the album and the strongest part of the record; the rest is made up of modern rock ballads that sound like the work of a different band entirely. In the end, Love Drunk is an improvement on their debut and a surprisingly good pop/rock record with emo leanings.~ Tim Sendra

前作から2年半、アヴリル・ラヴィーンのツアーに帯同するなど大きく躍進したボストン出身の4人組が、注目のニュー・アルバムを投下だ!　サム&スラッゴをプロデューサーに迎えた本作は、豪快無比なギターが炸裂するラウドなナンバーやグッド・シャーロットにも通じる電気仕掛けのパンク・チューン、さらに女性シンガーをフィーチャーした感涙バラードなどが完璧に溶け合った一枚に。いまの彼らに死角はない!
bounce (C)渡辺貴仁