Girls Against Boys
Freak*on*ica
[DGC; 1998]
Rating: 7.7
"Get your freak on!" screams the thoroughly e'd DJ from his steel-caged
mezzanine above a teeming sea of sweat-soaked teens and jumping twenty-somethings.
Yeah, the people paid their $10/head to forgo beds and dreams, and dance to the
post-midnight mayhem of a certain band's major label debut, Freak*On*Ica.
A bioluminescent glow of cool neon emits from under schoolbus-sized speakers
which hover mysteriously off the translucent dancefloor like an airhockey puck.
Welcome to the excessive world of Girls Against Boys.
GVSB are the D.C. post-punk groove band that moved to Times Square and
subsequently acquired a taste for heightened elements of electronica and a
fashion sense which can only be described as post-hygenic-- they appear fresh
out of the shower, dripping wet, with their hair slicked and undulating like
sea anemone from palmfuls of designer conditioner.
Over the last decade, these guys have molded their trademark sound of husky
vocals, punishing rhythm, and tongue-in-cheek sass. For this record, they've
completely immersed themselves in their schtick to quixotic proportions, nearly
stepping into self-parody. Lyrics give way to simple spat slogans that typically
involve 'pleasure' delivered via Scott McCloud's enthusiastic vocals while
Freak*On*Ica producer Nick Launey pushes every sound to 11. Girls Against
Boys' precision playing, coupled with Launey's knobwork, will crush your pelvis
like a mortar and pestle.
The band's departure from Chicago's hardcore Touch and Go label and their
arrival at David Geffen's multi-million-dollar establishment may have indie
rock pundits protesting 'sell-out.' But frankly, their new sound seems more
like a natural progression than a clever ploy to sell more records. Besides,
their appeal still lies in their ability to write awesome, swinging rock burners
that rely more on the band's ace rhythm section than on guitar skills. It's
still rock and roll, people. It's just mutated.
-Brent DiCrescenzo, June, 1998