Girls Against Boys - House of GVSB

×

Girls Against Boys - House of GVSB

Close

Girls Against Boys - House of GVSB
EAC/Flac (image) + Log + Cue = 289 MB | MP3 320 kbps = 95 MB | Scans 300 dpi
Rock/Alternative | Touch and Go Records #149 | 1996

Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.

Biography
Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.
The group began as a side project of Eli Janney and Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty. Canty soon left the project and by 1991 Janney had gone on to recruit three former members of D.C. hardcore punk group Soulside—Scott McCloud, Johnny Temple, and Alexis Fleisig—to complete the line-up. Girls Against Boys are perhaps most notable for employing dual bass guitars, a rarity in rock music, and for their second album, Venus Luxure No.1 Baby, a heavy yet nuanced entry into early 1990s post-hardcore. This album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series, and at the 25th anniversary concert for Touch and Go Records held in Chicago in September 2006.
They provided music for the soundtrack to the film Series 7: The Contenders, and one song for the soundtrack to the 1994 film Clerks. They also contributed the song "Freaks" to the soundtrack for the cult film Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Scott McCloud currently plays in Paramount Styles. After Girls Against Boys became inactive in 2003, Eli Janney became a full time producer for many bands.
In February 2009, the band began a European tour.

AMG Review by Ned Raggett
House of GVSB saw the band continuing its winning streak, and while arguably it contained no real surprises after the powerful one-two punch of Venus Luxure and Cruise Yourself, it still showed the quartet at the top of its considerable game. The Ted Niceley/Eli Janney partnership once again took charge with no worries, and every last drum hit or aggro bass roar makes its considerable mark. As with the previous albums, some tracks were the unquestioned high points, in this case the opening roar of "Super-Fire," with some of Scott McCloud's best guitar work ever, a controlled blast of riffs, and "TheKindaMzkYouLike," which gives everyone the chance to break out the funky fresh beats in their own style — feedback and all. The overdubbed chorus of "I'm sinking fast!" followed by another McCloud feedback drone makes for one heck of a conclusion. There are also the sly rhythms of "Disco Six Six Six," which not only benefits from Alexis Fleisig's playing but Janney's strong work on keyboard and McCloud's delivery, which — instead of mostly being attractively belligerent — actually shows a tender side. On the seemingly lighter side, the credit for "drum assistance and 808 supplied by Ken Tondre" becomes clear with the skittering opening beats on "Vera Cruz," Janney's squelching keyboard line amusingly offset by McCloud's regular low sighing groan and the full band adding in mostly on the choruses. Janney again has extra fun with falsetto backing vocals at various points, often to gently comedic effect — the wordless "ah-ah-ah" part on the brutal swing of "Cash Machine" adds a wonderfully strange contrast to McCloud's regular piss-and-vinegar approach. The last track, "Zodiac Love Team," throws in a final curve ball with its echoing, clattering drum loop, almost a throwback to the industrial-tinged origins of the group, but here set in the middle of the band's own film noir feedback style.