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Yes. Beautiful Chinese dream-gaze. No, NOT shoegaze – that music is bludgeoning and veers into Coldplay territory or the fucking Horrors (great review here) or someone. This music is much too delicate, positioned. Shoegaze could not exist without the amplifiers. Boyz & Girl clearly can. Maybe I should mention Skip Skip Benben here, as a reference to the side of Boyz & Girl I really like? This holds the Valentines and Sonic Youth in regard, clearly: but there’s also something other. A tenderness and sly humour at the heart of the darkness.
Yes. Boyz & Girl. Oddly, much of the album Tenzenmen is putting out in July doesn’t sound anything like the above, or below. The first track on that could be the fucking Telescopes or someone. Not that there’s anything wrong with the fucking Telescopes or someone, you understand: but I was expecting a little less immolation, a little more femininity:
Yes. This is just great. Maybe I haven’t been exposed to this music for so long I’m finding my fondness for it all over again: love the way the vocals are so down in the mix, the way Boyz & Girl revel in the sound. I guess, hand on heart, there’s some Mary Chain in all this somewhere (I’m referencing the album here, not the videos) but it’s mixed in with electronic weirdness separated from the feedback squalls that could be Can or wombats mating in wet weather. And doubtless there’s a bunch of Chinese influences present I know nothing about. (Love to, though.)
The other band recommended in the email press release below is a cracker too. Check them out here.
Boyz & Girl CD release – details herein.
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This four-piece shoegaze outfit quickly raced to the forefront of Taipei’s fast growing independent music scene- and for good reason. The completion of their warmly received eponymous freshman album has cemented their place in the hearts of an ever-growing fan base. Though Shoegaze is hardly a new phenomenon, Boyz & Girl has found a contemporary home in the genre, due largely in part to their fresh sounds and mature songwriting. The raucous yet dreamy guitars of Jon, pieced masterfully with Sonoko’s artistic drumming and Guo Guo’s steady basslines, creates an impeccable balance with the juvenile youth and innocence discovered through BenBen’s vocals.
The Boyz & Girl CD is now available in all good independent music stores around Australia* or via mail order at www.tenzenmen.com.
*Red Eye Records (Sydney), Beatdisc (Parramatta), Dada Music (Perth), Music Farmers (Wollongong), Rocking Horse (Brisbane), Ritual Music (Melbourne)
Please accept this press release with our gratitude and consider it for your news, review or airplay.
My name is Everett True. I am a music critic. This is what I do. I criticise music.
The clue is in my job description – music critic. I do not consider myself a journalist, as I do not research or report hard news. I do not consider myself a commentator as I believe that everyone should be a participant. I criticise people and in return I am not surprised if other people criticise me. It is part of the whole deal of being in the public arena.
I am Everett True. Believe in me and I have power like a God. Quit believing in me and I no longer exist.