Austin Sound

For the past two years, at least, we’ve been waiting for the Strange Boys official debut album. We’ve watched them transform from infectiously sloppy and slurry garage licks to an incredibly tight quartet, laying down impeccable grooves as they seemed to sweep through an underground history of rock & roll. All this is simply by way of an intro to say that we’ve been impressed by the Strange Boys and loved their live shows, quite literally watched them grow up on stage here in Austin, but still nothing quite prepared us for how amazingly good this debut album is. Sure, the familiar elements are there that make And Girls Club distinctly a Strange Boys album – deciphering Ryan Sambol’s laconic vocals is usually a futile exercise, but also a completely unnecessary one. His voice slides and rolls completely comfortably within the rhythms unloaded by brother Philip on bass, Greg Enlow’s guitar, and Matt Hammer holding down the drums. From the opening burst of “Woe Is You and Me” to the shivering blues-based closer “Death and All the Rest,” there is hardly a moment on the 16 track disc that doesn’t support the notion that the Strange Boys are the best new band in Austin.

The howl that piques “Woe is You and Me” to kick off the album unravels the fun and kind of torn emotional ambivalence that winds throughout the rest of And Girls Club, sinking into the low rockabilly-tinged romp of “They’re Building the Death Camps.” There’s a distinct Charlie Feathers meets Tav Falco burning vibe that runs within the Strange Boys style, and the beauty of the album is that Ryan doesn’t push his vocals to lead these tunes, but instead lets them wrestle lightly with the rhythm, allowing the groove to move the songs in all directions as he just follows. Album standout “Should Have Shot Paul” slides a soulful chorus that is absolutely unshakable into under two minutes – it’s a perfect piece of cryptic pop that makes no immediate sense, but hardly needs to.

Most of the songs are so short - hovering around the two minute mark - that they leave hit and run impressions. They deliver just enough to hook you and then end as easily as they burrowed into your consciousness. The exceptions - the three minute surf-licking “Girl Taught Me to Dance” and moaning backwoods brood of “For Lack of a Better Face” and easy Fifties pop lilt of “No Way For a Slave To Behave” – all still refuse to stay in one place for too long, the Boys thriving on a restlessness that applies as much to style and sound as it does their lyrical escapism. “Heard You Want to Beat Me Up,” offers a familiar Strange Boys lope warped by some wicked guitar as Ryan drawls out lazily “I’m in trouble with another man, I did something I shouldn’t, Get me out of here if you can, And I won’t do anything you wouldn’t.” The song seems to capture the group’s passive acceptance to perfection, the kind of “wrong place, wrong time” trouble the broods under their laid back style.

“Poem Party” unloads perhaps the group’s greatest fury with a scorch of guitar distortion to end the song and start the second half of the album, which follows suit by driving a bit harder with the forceful percussion of “To Turn a Tune or Two” and bass drum of “A Man You’ve Never Known.” But Ryan’s vocals also feel more comfortable on the backside, pushing the jagged, start and stop jump of “Most Things” and languishing out easily on “Then.” The harmonica that shades the background of “Who Needs Who More” and the twanged-jangle of “Probation Blues” set up the acoustic closer and surprising piano roll of “Death and All the Rest,” suggesting that even despite these 16 immaculate tracks, the Strange Boys still have a lot more up their sleeve, and more roots to upend in the future.