I think this album gave me diabetes. After a slew of entertaining singles from their debut The Best Party Ever, The Boy Least Likely To have created a second album so cutesy and sweet that it’s truly deserving of the title, pardon the expression, twee as fuck. Individually, the songs are quite enjoyable. Singles ‘A Balloon on a Broken String’ and ‘When Life Gives Me Lemons I Make Lemonade’ are ridiculously catchy, but 45 minutes of them are nearly enough to get me to throw on some death metal to clear my head of all the banjos, xylophones and bells.
Lyrics like “If I want to feel something, I’ll stick pencils up my nose” succeed despite their ridiculousness, and the band exudes a certain charm, but even the most charming person wears out their welcome. You’ve likely met that person, the one who’s friendly, considerate, talkative, and an all-around stand up guy. But after some time in their presence, you begin to loathe them. I’ll digress from this, as it’ll just degenerate into the plot synopsis of some mediocre romantic comedy. Suffice it to say, my biggest criticism is that The Boy Least Likely To are annoyingly good at what they do.
Perhaps I’m too jaded to appreciate this on a higher level. The childlike perspective of wonder and optimism that pervades the album has likely passed me by, but the odd listen can still be worthwhile.
The Boy Least Likely To – A Balloon on a Broken String
The Boy Least Likely To – When Life Gives Me Lemons I Make Lemonade
The Boy Least Likely To – Every Goliath Has Its David
3 Comments
kevin, you made me ell o ell with your first sentence. if i had been drinking milk i am sure it would have come out my nose. you’re right, i think i got diabetes too. you can only listen to bllt once in a while…it’s too overwhelmingly cute and sugary. the one song i can listen to all the time is “be gentle with me”. other than that…bllt is reserved for days when i really need to be cheered up or feel like an ice cream substitute =)
— Dona, August 23, 2009Honestly? That line is the only reason I followed through with the rest of the review.
— Kevin Kania, August 23, 2009yeah. it was a good line. =)
— Dona, August 23, 2009
