The very sound of East London’s Boy From The Crowd seems at once to be something of an oxymoron, and yet it works fantastically. On their new EP, Where The Bees Come To Die, they combine two styles that are typically at odds with one another: blues rock and punk. It’s not a new combination—other have attempted it before—but rarely does the elixir work as successfully as it does here. In giving punk’s sense of unhinged urgency to the somewhat predictable structure of the Delta blues, the band sounds like a raucous, drunken, and unpredictable attack on decades of tradition.
Boy From The Crowd is a duo comprised of Vinny Piana handling guitars, vocals, and keys; and Vegas Ivy on drums and percussion. Although it is just the two of them, there are numerous overdubs and layers on the EP, giving it the feeling of a punk band as large as an orchestra. The band sticks closer to blues standards on tracks like “All I Need,” but elsewhere on “Revelator” and “Where The Bees Come To Die,” their technically proficient approach to the music gives them a feeling somewhat akin to Television. Where The Bees Come To Die is a thrilling listen, and is available from Public Pressure Records.
