The
guys behind indie rock’s Boyfrndz cut their teeth in a half dozen other
bands before finally finding a groove. The three have the tense
competition in their home base of Austin, Texas — aka the Live Music
Capital of the World — to thank for that.
“Playing
in Austin separates the men from the boys a little bit. It’s so hard to
get good shows,” singer Scott Martin said. “You figure out what isn’t
working and start trying a lot harder. Some people just don’t ever do
that.”
As a result,
Boyfrndz is going further and playing for more people than ever before.
Appearing Tuesday at The Deli in Norman, the trio recently was invited
to join similarly minded math-rock act El Ten Eleven on tour.
“We
met them at [South by Southwest] this past year. I had a party at my
house and asked them to play, and they agreed,” Martin said. “We just
became good friends, and then we got an email, asking if we’d like to
join them for some dates. It’s crazy to go on a tour where we haven’t
done all the booking. It’ll be nice to just cruise and enjoy it.”
Up
to now, being Boyfrndz largely has been an independent endeavor. Only
recently has the band taken on more help to push its latest album, All Day Pass. While the work has been strenuous, there also has been time for fun and games.
“While
we were writing, Aaron [Perez, drummer] said that playing in Boyfrdnz
was like having an all-day pass to a theme park,” Martin said. “It’s how
we all pretty much feel.”
Musically, All Day Pass is
a bit of a roller-coaster ride in and of itself, inspiring comparisons
to everyone from Animal Collective to Jane’s Addiction over the course
of the 12-song effort.
“Starting
out, we wanted this to be a really rowdy, loud punk band, but then we
started writing together and it didn’t sound like punk rock at all,”
Martin said. “It came out the way it came out, which is kind of all over
the place.”
All Day Pass is a triumph for all parties involved, one that is available as a name-your-price download at boyfrndz.bandcamp.com.
“It
was a really good experience,” Martin said. “We’ve been playing those
songs for a long time, so it was good to finally let them out.”
Having
already released two EPs and a full length in the group’s two short
years together, Boyfrdnz already aims to record a follow-up to All Day Pass, proving they ain’t no fling.
“It has a different sound,” Martin said. “We’re growing a lot.”
This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2012.