The Boy Least Likely To is a band that I bought into as soon as I heard them. Through their music, I interpreted a philosophy which I recognized as my own: The best way to express self-loathing is to dress it up in fuzzy animal ears and hope everyone will think it’s really cute. Musically, fuzzy ears equate to heavy use of infectious, bouncy melodies and lots of playful instrumentation (i.e.: fiddles, glockenspiels, guiro cylinders, etc…).
Officially, The Boy Least Likely to is a country disco project by two lads who met in school in their native Buckinghamshire, England. Multi-instrumentalist Pete Hobbs handles the band’s composition with lyrics and vocals delivered by Jof Owen. Their debut record, “The Best Party Ever,” which they released in 2005 on their own record label, Too Young To Die, was a complete sleeper hit, attracting praise from all over—even the reliably senile and otherwise obsolete Rolling Stone magazine.
Then, the band got tied up with label issues for years. I had given up hope for a second release, but here it is “the law of the playground.” The new record has even more introspective than the first. On “The Boy Least Likely To is a Machine,” Owen deconstructs his own motivation for the band’s existence: “I made a machine to make my life easier … I programmed it to simulate the feelings that I used to get.” Being a fair representation of the full record, this song is a continuation of the resigned, self-deprecating analysis and grotesquely upbeat songcraft that made “the best party ever” such a compelling listen.
Another solid standout of this formula is “I keep myself to myself” which bounds along with a sunshine and kitty-cat-catchy tune, while retreating again and again to its defeated refrain: “I am afraid of falling in love so I / Keep myself to myself.” You’d never know by reading the lyrics, but this song is just irresistibly peppy; I dare you to just sit listening without dancing and singing happily along: “I feel completely alone in the world so I / Keep myself to myself.”
Toward the end of the record, there are more down-tempo numbers, with simplified arrangements (similar to the “cuddle me” b-side released some time back). “The worm forgives the plough,” gets by with only one guitar, some background sound effects and Owen’s voice as he discovers that “even a little worm has its ways of taking revenge on the world.”
If you’re like me, you’re already impatient for summer to arrive. “The law of the playground” is the perfect collection of summer songs to help you pretend; What’s better than having a pretend-summer with pretend-happiness?