This Many Boyfriends - Getting A Life With

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Phil on Thu 01 Jul, 2010.

Indie thing of the week goes to This Many Boyfriends with their fun packed package on Sheffield's finest Thee SPC. If 'I Don't Like You ('Cos You Don't Like The Pastels)' doesn't give you a clue of what you're getting then you probably shouldn't be reading this. If you're into maxi funtime indie pop with catchy choruses and more quirkyness than you could shake a stick at then you'll be wanting to get your hands on one of these nice things. Even if you don't like the music you should marvel at the package which includes a 7 track CD, fanzine, badge and stickers all sealed up in a maxi funtime (my new phrase for this review) purple and white striped sealed paper bag. The kind of bag you'd have had served full of Yorkshire mixture or rhubarb & custard by kindly old people who ran confectionery emporiums which have now almost entirely been replaced by phone unlocking crisp and pop shops. We move on... This is super honest down to earth indie pop with the band wearing their Smiths and Orange Juice references proudly on their sleeves. I like it...

Culling their name from a Beat Happening song, Leeds-based quintet This Many Boyfriends nail their manifesto firmly to the wall within seconds of the opening song of their debut EP: "I Don't Like You ('Cos You Don't Like The Pastels)" is a blatant slab of spot-on musical snobbery that's been wowing the indiekids for a few months already. And the very grown-up Tom Robinson on BBC 6Music was so impressed he invited the band onto his programme to chew the fat. Awesome!

But it's not all knowing winks and in-jokes amongst the Anorak set. "I Should Be A Communist" and "#1" are pure jangly pop, nudging on vintage Smiths and Orange Juice territory respectively. And "Three Year Itch" bangs the drum with it's reverb guitars and laconic vocals as effectively as any Brooklyn-based NME darlings you could care to mention. EP closer "It's Lethal" raised the bar, both melodically and lyrically, leaving us with the delicious coda "Radio is The Devil". A fitting end to an EP that politely puts two fingers up to the indie mainsteam.

You'll probably not be surprised to discover This Many Boyfriends are playing at Indietracks festival this summer and, in grand indiepop tradition, the CD release of the EP comes with a fanzine and a badge/sticker set.