Boy Jr.
‘It’s Enough’ / ‘Anyway’
Self-released
There’s
something infectious about Boy Jr: One-woman band Erica Allen-Lubman is all style, with no
aimless filler. She has been making her mark on the Rochester music scene for
over four years, and has recently released two singles that complement each
other like salty and sweet.
The
first single “It’s Enough,” released this
past November, is a driving, gnarled opus with riffs for days and vocal hooks
for weeks. Verging on punk with all the shimmering glamour of 80’s dream-pop, Allen-Lubman seems confident in many
styles, and unafraid to stray from one into the other. The vocals – reminiscent
of the great Chrissie Hynde of The
Pretenders- snarl and warble around syncopated drum machine beats
and angular guitars.
Released
a month later, the second single “Anyway” was one of the first songs
ever written by Boy Jr. In contrast to “It’s Enough,”
“Anyway” is more simple and straight from the shoulder. The song is coated in
syrupy nostalgia, reinforced by tried-and-true themes of young love and
yearning. Hooky guitars stick to Allen-Lubman’s voice with ease, making “Anyway” very
different from – and somehow the perfect reflector to – its predecessor.
This article appears in Feb 6-12, 2019.
