The Boy Least Likely To – The Best Party Ever
The Boy Least Likely To – The Best Party Ever / 2006 Too Young To Die / 12 Tracks / http://www.theboyleastlikelyto.co.uk / http://www.tooyoungtodierecords.com / Reviewed 27 January 2006

The Boy Least Likely To start off “The Best Party Ever” with “Be Gentle With Me”, a track that mixes together the timeless sound of The Polyphonic Spree with dreamy, shoegazer pop to make for a track that will get heads bopping and bodies moving. “Fur Soft As Fur” is more of the same thing, with the vocals caressing each and every listener who is lucky enough to tune in. The xylophone-like sound that twinkles like so many stars on “Fur Soft As Fur” mixes with a country-sounding guitar to make another immediate hit for The Boy Least Likely To.

The heavy drum presence on “Monsters” really gives the track a sense of immediacy that is not really borne out by the vocals; this tension gives this disc a sound that changes throughout. In fact, the electronic sound that is so heavy on “Monsters” brings the track out of the sixties/seventies sound in which it was originally couched in; this is an eclectic track, at least. Mixing together Fischerspooner and The Postal Service with Temper Temper and Love, The Boy Least Likely To has a solid pedigree but a desire to create something that is not bound by the bands that preceded them. The epic struggle that takes place in “Paper Cuts” between the synthesizer and the vocals, each trying to grab the spotlight, pushes the disc further into fertile grounds. Each track has a typical pop length (between three and five minutes), but the spastic nature of The Boy Least Likely To makes each track into its own small symphony. Moving again their sound with “Warm Panda Cola”, the heavy use of harmonica during this sub-minute track bolsters perfectly the Momus-like sounds of the vocals during the track.

Giving the bass player some time in the spotlight for “I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes”, The Boy Least Likely To imbue the track with a fullness that will be welcomed, even if one does not think that the tracks preceding it were lacking in any way. Even if “The Best Party Ever” does not have a sound that screams 2006, there is a freshness to The Boy Least Likely’s sound that never disappears through the album’s 37 minutes. It seems unfair that Europe got this disc album a year before we in the United States will, but this wait will be well worth it when it is released on our shores in April.

Top Tracks: I’m Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon To Your Star, Fur Soft As Fur

Rating: 7.6/10

[JMcQ]