“The Strange Boys appeal to me because of their brilliant recasting of the roots of rock and roll with a seditious modern twist” – Geoff Travis, Rough Trade
“”The Strange Boys make music that can only come from Texas, a perfectly formed, totally accomplished and spot-on executed rock n’ roll band. I didn’t even know they made them like this anymore.” -Larry Hardy, In The Red Records
Recorded by: Mike McHugh at The Distillery, in Costa Mesa, Ca. September 2009
Ryan Sambol: guitar, vocals, harmonica, piano
Greg Enlow: guitar, organ, piano, background vocals, glockenspiel
Philip Sambol: bass, background vocals
Seth Densham: drums
Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt: saxophone, background vocals
Tim Presley: background vocals, bass
The Strange Boys are a phenomenal young group from Austin, Texas.
They are at the same time, both timeless and refreshingly avant garde. They have signed to Rough Trade Records for the world excluding the US (where they remain on In The Red Records). Set to appeal to anyone who has a liking for top quality beat and blues influenced rock n’ roll, The Strange Boys have provoked excitement and reaction in the Rough Trade offices the like of which has been unseen since the signing of The Strokes. They played their first UK shows this summer to wild reaction and their live return to the UK is hotly anticipated. Having played across Europe this summer, they’ve since returned to the US and recorded their 2nd album in Costa Mesa. Entitled, Be Brave, it is the follow up to their debut and Girls Club, which was released on In The Red in the US and became a hugely popular underground record in the UK via import copies alone.
Ryan Sambol explains the background of the new record:
“We got back from Europe and I worked out the songs that I had already started, wrote some more and sent cassette tapes of the songs to Tim, Jenna and Seth. When they got the tapes they all called me back and said they didn’t know what they were going to play, but they were interested to try. Then the three of us; Greg, Philip and I, drove out from Austin and played a few shows to get to LA. We met up with Tim, Jenna and Seth, went over to our friend John’s house, and rehearsed for a couple hours. The next day, we played FYF Fest, two days later we went to Costa Mesa, and two weeks later we came out with Be Brave.”
A limited edition 7″ vinyl single to be released on January 25th in the UK and on Jan 26th in the US will precede the new album. Title track ‘Be Brave’ will be backed by different, non-album, b-sides on the UK and US editions.
“..this is a careful, studied slouch: the loose limbs of garage-rock, rendered through a psychedelic fuzz, with melodies plucked from the blues and 1950s country music. “Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up” sounds both aggressive and aggrieved, and much of this impressive debut album manages wistfulness without sacrificing its knowing edge.” – NY Times
“It’s passionate, yowling guitar rock at its best” – Rolling Stone
THE STRANGE BOYS
Friday Feb 19th Austin @ Emo’s *#
Sun Feb 21 Marfa TX @ Padre’s *
Tues Feb 23 Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space *
Wed Feb 24 Isla Vista, CA @ Biko Garage *
Thurs Feb 25 San Diego, CA @ Casbah *
Fri Feb 26 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
Sat Fat 27 San Francisco CA @ Elbo Room *$
Sun Feb 28 Reno, Nevada @ Rainshadow Community Charter High School *
Tues March 2 Salem, OR @ The Space *%
Wed March 3 Olympia, WA @ Northern *%
Thurs March 4 Seattle WA @ Comet Tavern *&
Fri March 5 Vancouver BC @ Media Club *
Sat March 6 Portland OR @ East End *
Sun March 7 – Boise, ID @ Visual Arts Collective
Mon March 8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Tue March 9 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive
Wed March 10 – Boulder, CO @ University of Colorado – Club 156
Fri Mar 12 – Lubbock, TX @ Bash Riprock’s
* = w/ Chain and the Gang
# = w/ Yellow Fever
% = w/ The Hive Dwellers
& = w/ Lovvers
$ = w/ Ty Segall, Nodzzz
THE STRANGE BOYS LINKS:
MySpace – myspace.com/thestrangeboys