Boo Boo Spoiler are something of a hidden gem in the increasingly-celebrated shoegaze/noise rock/whatever you wanna call it scene of Philadelphia. Featuring members of various beloved Philly groups as well as Dan Lewicki from forever AP heartthrobs Strange Mangers and signed to the area’s would-be epicenter in Julias War Recordings Boo Boo (at the moment at least) are a heads only concern with just one short, but punchy EP to their name. However, enterprising listeners will no doubt have seen them play support at the Ukie Club, Foto Club, and the various other spots that dot the Philly area. As seen above, Boo Boo also played a sweaty, legendarily stacked show in Charlestown last summer with They Are Gutting A Body of Water, Horse Jumper of Love, the aforementioned Mangers, and Alexander and if you missed that one, oh boy.
If there’s any justice in this wicked world Boo Boo Spoiler’s run as undersung heroes will be coming to an end. Today on Halloween the quartet is issuing their second offering as a group in the form of a double A side single entitled my guitar / take me with you. The opening “my guitar” opens with a trebly and sour guitar line that kinda sounds like a old beater car struggling to fire up in the dead of winter before the band kicks in and the whole thing goes widescreen. Its running mate in “take me with you” offers a similar trick though its bracing, crash cymbal heavy churn has even more bite to it, swaying across the sonic field as Pax Martyn solemnly coos the titual phrase. Both of these tune offer a lot more movement than the supposedly staid wells (shoegaze, slowcore, noise rock et all) from which the group draws, and both are indicative of the ridiculously deep roster of rockers calling the city of brotherly love home. Read on for some thoughts from Martyn and hit play on the stream below.
“take me with u” is as melodically satisfying as it is heavenly textural. While it is apparent that we pull inspiration from the shoegaze greats of the 90s alongside our contemporaries in Philadelphia, there is an ever-apparent softness battling the sharp edges of the current moment.”
my guitar / take me with you is out now, you can grab a digital copy here.