Jam of the Day – Boy Crisis Finds the Fountain of Youth, Gives it to Monkeys

If you happen to be a nerdus maximus and read the Wired Science blog on the regular, you might have seen the piece a month ago about the results published in Science magazine of a 20-year-long study of rhesus monkeys. The study seems to show that “caloric restriction” (i.e. eating less than you “should”) actually produces changes in the body’s metabloic functioning that in turn may serve to lengthen life and increase the quality of life in primates (and maybe humans, too!). This is not entirely new thinking, but “[t]his is the first study to show that caloric restriction slows aging in a primate species. And of course, we’re primates, too. It’s a lot more relevant to humans than the mouse.” Sometimes science just pummels you with common sense. EAT LESS, BE LESS FAT. Maybe not exactly the fountain of youth that the story’s title suggests.

Not like I coughed up any dough for this research, but for my dollar I’d much rather take a sip off of the new “Fountain of Youth” track from Brooklyn’s favorite panty-dropping, party-starting fivesome, Boy Crisis. Part of what the Village Voice just dubbed the “Wesleyan mafia” along with MGMT, Amazing Baby, Bear Hands (not in the article, surprisingly), Das Racist, and a bunch of others, the group is comprised of Tal Rozen and Victor Vazquez on vocals (Victor is also known as Kool A.D., one half of the DR crew), Alex Kestner on bass and laptop (among other things), Lee Pender on guitar, and Owen Roberts on drums.

The first time I ever heard these guys play, I knew it would only be a matter of time before some major swooped in and picked them up by the spandex, which is exactly what happened last fall when Ben James signed them to B-Unique/Atlantic Records. Since then, the group has spent a lot of time selling their vision of danceable, freaky-deaky, Bowie/George Clinton funkiness to audiences across the pond, including gigs at the Glastonbury and Isle of Wright music festivals. They also had an opening spot for Katy Perry up in Boston recently – here are some great behind-the-scenes photos from our friend Ben Rowland of the show.

Apart from the touring, the boys have also been putting the finishing touches on their first full-length, tentatively titled Tulipomania. I had a chance to listen to a near-finished version of the record a couple of weeks ago, and let me tell you, its “japanties are makin me hot,” to borrow a line from the album’s first single, “Dressed to Digress.” To be honest, I’m not that into the studio-version of “Dressed to Digress” (it sounds a little thinner, bass-wise, than the pre-deal versions), but “L’Homme,” “Ganglion of Lightnings,” and “1981” all sound amazing. But why didn’t “Strawberries” make the album? I guess we can’t have everything we want in life. As to the new fare, I think Victor’s vocal patterns strongly shaped “Murder Murder Murder” and “Sex and Violence,” both of which have similarly sparse openings followed by catchy choruses of tightly rhyming lines. “Bang Bang Bang” sort of follows the same pattern, but with Tal recycling the lyrics from an older song over some horns and super-sleek production. God-damn Boy Crisis is catchy as hell! Essentially, all of the tracks are bangers; I can’t wait for the release.

I think that “Fountain of Youth,” the opener, is probably my favorite (at least of the newer tracks). And though they still haven’t released the actual music video for “Dressed to Digress,” this past weekend the band got together with their friend Jordan Fish to shoot a new music video for “Fountain of Youth” featuring a lot of women “relatively scantily clad” and “covered in paint at some point,” according to the casting call. I can’t give away too many details, but according to one female acquaintance on the set for the shoot, the women are carrying around Tal and Victor on some sort of “chariot.” Check back for updates.

As a video appetizer, last week Boy Crisis posted a link to an “ULTRAVIDEO MEGAMIX” for “Fountain of Youth”, so check it out while you wait for the real video full of scantily clad painted women. Boy Crisis is forever, like Wu-tang!

Boy Crisis – Fountain of Youth:

-Drew

P.S. Boy Crisis wins! It’s EV2BK.com’s 100th post!