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.

How long have we been waiting for the Strange Boys to finally release an official album?! Well, the wait is almost over as next month the quartet will unload their In the Red debut, … And Girls Club in time for SXSW and it is loaded down with 16 garagy nuggets. The video for “Woe Is You and Me” is about as lo-fi and dizzying as the group’s sound, and was directed by Daniel Hill. Check it out below, as well as an Mp3 from the new album.