Deafening guitar solos. 30 Seconds of Shit. Sad boys standing on the edge of the pit while the girls mosh. Yelling the lyrics to “American River” as catharsis for school induced stress. Alexia navigating through the crowd as she sings “Cattywampus”. These are just some of the aspects that make up a great Destroy Boys show. We have long awaited the day that their recordings would catch up to the magnitude of their energetic and unifying live performances.
The release of Crybaby/Vixen and “American River” earlier this year only lead to more anticipation. Through these releases, we watched Destroy Boys transform from two teenagers playing punk music to a full fledged rock band. Cleaner production, more advanced composition, and lyrics worthy of an angsty instagram caption marked the beginning of a new era for Destroy Boys.
On September 27, Destroy Boys released their single for Make Room, “Soundproof”. This track discusses a rarely recognized aspect of performing. As you watch Alexia sway through the pit, belting lyrics in the faces of fans, no one would guess that she actually experiences performance anxiety. “Soundproof” allows fans to see a more vulnerable side of the live shows and gain better insight to what is experienced by the band on stage.
This ten track album features four new songs and six previously released tracks, including a remastered version of “Duck Eat Duck World” off their first LP, Sorry, Mom. Considering their evolution to this point and their collaboration with renowned producer Martin Cooke (who has worked on well known recent albums such as Foster the People’s Sacred Hearts Club and The Killers’ Wonderful Wonderful), I was excited to observe the change directly through reworked tracks. I was hoping for a change similar to what The Frights showcased when they re-recorded their Tongues/Puppy Knuckles EP for their sophomore LP You Are Going to Hate This. Completely reworking previously released songs allowed the listener to appreciate just how far The Frights had come since their last release.Though the tracks were redone and improved with significantly better production and slightly different lyrics, I was disappointed in the lack of new material present on Make Room, especially after being so excited by their preceding releases.
Despite that, the album is still very enjoyable. Destroy Boys’ brand of punk mixes heavy guitar and striking vocals to form some great music that continues to hit hard live at every single show. Each song carries a special energy that will either have you moshing your heart out in the pit or headbanging along to the beat.
Make sure to catch Destroy Boys live on Saturday October 27 at Uncool Halloween III in Berkeley, California or at The Hi Hat in Los Angeles, California on November 14!
Listen to Make Room here!