Boys Like Girls
Boys Like Girls (stylized in all caps since 2023) is an American rock band formed in Andover, Massachusetts,[1] a suburb of Boston, in 2005. The group gained mainstream recognition with their self-titled debut album (2006), which went on to sell over 700,000 albums in the US, earning a gold certification from the RIAA. The band's second studio album Love Drunk, was released in 2009 and their third studio album Crazy World, was released in 2012.
This article is about the band. For their 2006 album, see Boys Like Girls (album).
Boys Like Girls
2005–present
- Martin Johnson
- Gregory James
- John Keefe
- Jamel Hawke
- Bryan Donahue
- Morgan Dorr
- Paul DiGiovanni
The band toured worldwide between 2006 and 2013. Notable tours include their main stage appearance on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour, their first headlining tour "Tourzilla" (2007)[8] and a co-headliner with Good Charlotte for the Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour 2008.[9]
The music video for their single "The Great Escape" (directed by Alan Ferguson) was voted the No. 1 video on MTV's TRL on August 6, 2007[8] and the band performed at MTV's TRL studio overlooking Times Square.
In 2023, the band released the single "Blood and Sugar" from their fourth studio album Sunday at Foxwoods.
History[edit]
Formation and early years (2005–2006)[edit]
The group was formed in Boston suburb Andover, Massachusetts[10] in the final months of 2005, when vocalist Martin Johnson, formerly of the Boston act Fake ID/The Drive, wrote a handful of songs he wanted to record. He recruited bassist Bryan Donahue and drummer John Keefe. Keefe brought along lead guitarist Paul DiGiovanni, with whom he had recorded a brief demo, to complete the line-up. Some of the demo's titles were "Free", "If You Could See Me Now", and "The Only Way That I Know How To Feel". Some months later Keefe and DiGiovanni learned that they were distant cousins.[11][12] The group later changed their name to Boys Like Girls.
The quartet soon opened a PureVolume account to showcase their music, and uploaded a rough demo of "The Great Escape" and an acoustic rendition of "Thunder". By the end of the year, the group was on the No. 1 spot on the website's Top Unsigned Artists chart[13] and within a few months had completed nationwide tours with Cute Is What We Aim For, Hit the Lights, All Time Low and Butch Walker.
Eventually, in 2006, the popularity of the band was overheard by booking agent Matt Galle and record producer Matt Squire, who contacted the band about a future collaboration. With their full support, Boys Like Girls embarked on their first nationwide tour with A Thorn for Every Heart, Hit the Lights and Keating in late February 2006. Following the month-long venture, the group immediately entered the recording studio with Squire to record their debut album for Columbia Records/Red Ink.
During their time in the studio Squire introduced the band to another of his alumni, Cute Is What We Aim For, who offered Boys Like Girls an opening slot on their upcoming headlining tour. Once the album was recorded, Boys Like Girls played back-to-back tours, including the Cute Is What We Aim For tour in June, as well as a two-week stint with Butch Walker in late July.[11] In between tours the band filmed their first music video for their album's lead single, "Hero/Heroine", directed by Mark Serao and Chris Vaglio of Grey Sky Films.[14]
Musical style and influences[edit]
Stylistically, the band lists its musical influences as a variety of contemporary, emo pop, punk, and alternative rock bands, such as Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, Secondhand Serenade, Relient K, The Academy Is..., and Dashboard Confessional. While these tendencies are clearly audible in guitarwork and drumming, punk rock influences are far less obvious as far as vocal patterns and lyricism are concerned. Given Johnson's characteristic tenor vocal melodies, the band's all-around sound is geared to late '90s alternative radio rock, along the lines of Vertical Horizon, Goo Goo Dolls, and Eve 6.[50]
Critical reception[edit]
While the online community crowned Boys Like Girls "2006's Fall Out Boy" (in reference to the pop-punk band's commercial success with 2005's From Under the Cork Tree),[51] album sales were less convincing. Despite promotional front page features (such as Spin's "Artist of the Day" or Absolutepunk.net's "Featured Band" and "Absolute Exclusive: Album Leak"), Boys Like Girls scanned a mere 1,472 units within its first week of sales, thus failing to chart the Billboard 200.[52] However, continuous touring and promoting helped gaining the record a No. 179 entry into the chart in April 2007. It continued to gain popularity as the single, "The Great Escape", climbed the charts and eventually peaked at No. 55 in August 2007. After nearly falling off the Billboard 200, the re-release of the single "Hero/Heroine" jumped the album back up to No. 61 and was certified Gold shortly after.[53]