Another one trick pony falls through the grid
To My Boy are an electro indie two-piece from Liverpool and Chesterfield. All their music is self-produced and recorded on a PC, although they use "real" instruments such as electric guitar as well as electronically created ones. 'theGrid', released this month on Abeano Music, is the pair's second single, following up 'I Am Xray'.
'theGrid' opens with a head-crunching drum machine beat and guitar riff, an intro almost guaranteed to please a disco or gig crowd but unlikely to please an "at home" listener since it sounds like a headache. The track's vocals are delivered in a semi-spoken style over a quieter section of music, vaguely reminiscent of Joy Division and other early 80s bands who worked in this genre. To My Boy continue in the same vein for the entire duration of the song, alternating quiet and loud sections before building up into a manic instrumental section towards the end.
B-Side 'Mono' is more of the same, only perhaps a little less sophisticated and thus a tad more irritating. Its beat is relentless yet uncreative, and the vocal style very close to the previous track. As with 'theGrid', it may please a room of drunken students anxious to prove their worth as cool indie kids, but in a living room it just sounds intusive, over the top and annoying. To My Boy are not entirely without merit and certainly know how to deliver dancefloor electro indie, but it is a genre of narrow appeal and they are essentially a one trick pony.