Love Drunk Review

Released: Sep 8, 2009
Genre: Pop Punk, Alternative Rock
Label: Columbia, Red Ink
Number Of Tracks: 11
It will be describing as classic rock twenty-years from now, but for today it is a modern rock 'n' roll fantasy.

Sound:	8
Lyrics:	8.5
Impression:	7.5
Overall rating:	8
Users rating:	5
Comments:	51

overall: 8.3

Featured review by: sweetpeasuzie, on september 03, 2009

Sound: Boys Like Girls made a name for themselves as one of America’s most celebrated power pop bands of the new millennium with their self-titled debut release, but their follow up album, Love Drunk, is even more appetizing. With less emphasis on party pop platters and more substance in terms of crunchy guitars and explosive shreds from lead guitarist Paul DiGiovanni and lead singer/rhythm guitarist Martin Johnson, Boys Like Girls deliver satisfaction to audiences with a taste for guitar-branded rock. No longer the new kids in power punk, Boys Like Girls have the tight rack-and-pinion steering of Finger Eleven, the growling engines of Three Days Grace, and an underbelly of throbbing rumbles reminiscent of Tantric. Bassist Brian Donahue and drummer John Keefe offer chunky rips with the blunt of beefy fists slamming hard on granite as Johnson’s vocals whip around the course with the instincts and agility of a mogul skier plunging down rocky slopes. Who knew they had this in them moving into modern rock terrain clothed in huge productions and trailed in bloated guitar vibrations with a fiery cycling that produces robust strokes in the rhythmic action.

A number of tracks are designed to rev-up audiences by harnessing bars of chorus parts that mobilize fans to sing along with the band like in the title track and “Chemicals Collide.” It’s like the band takes their cues from Bon Jovi enabling audience participation. The bobbing pumps of “She’s Got A Boyfriend Now” and “Real Thing” burrow in the mind and make for catchy tunes that you can retrieve when you are reaching for song to sing along to while doing some mundane task. The roar of the guitars steaming up “Contagious” is trussed up in burly bass beats and rapid paddling in the drum strikes. Boys like Girls lower their gears to the dreamy acoustics and orchestral swirls of “Two Is Better Than One” and the folksy strips of “Someone Like You.” The soft rock rustling and coasting spins of “The First One” are disarming, and the acoustic plumes of “Go” have a romantic touch that aims its arrow right for human vulnerabilities. // 9

Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics are direct and convey human emotions such as regret in “She’s Got A Boyfriend Now” with bold confessions that tell, “Wish that I could turn this car around / but she’s got a boyfriend now… Nothing goes the way you expect it.” Other confessions warn, “The first one is the worst one when it comes to a broken heart” from “The First One,” or proclaiming that “I can’t live without you… I’m thinking two is better than one” from “Two Is Better Than One.” There are also moments of reflection like in “Someone Like You” as Johnson implores, “Who can save me now / My life in the rear view running from Jesus / Don’t know where I’m going to / I got nothing to lose / I’m fighting my demons / Been looking for someone like you.” The lyrics are revealing about human vulnerabilities and provide a platform to confess deeply embedded feelings. // 8

Impression: Love Drunk lets audiences into Boys Like Girls rock ‘n’ roll fantasy. The album is to Boys Like Girls what Slippery When Wet is to Bon Jovi. It is geared for arena-sized audiences and reveals Boys Like Girls modern rock chops. It is the type of album that fans will be describing as classic rock twenty-years from now, but for today it is a modern rock ‘n’ roll fantasy. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on september 11, 2009

Sound: Boys Like Girls first album seemed to be more focused on memories and the past more in my opinion. Five Minutes till Midnight is a great example, as is The Great Escape. The newest album seems kind of bi-polar actually. The cd is full of mixed emotions. Such as self reflection, "Someone Like You", regret, "She's Got a Boyfriend Now", love, "Two is better than one", anger, "Love Drunk" and hope, "Go". Compared to the first album I think this one steps it up a little more instrumentally (I heard a couple good solo's throughout the album). Overall, this record focuses a little more on present feelings, and dwells a little less on the past than the first album. I was also very happy to hear a couple softer songs thrown in. // 7

Lyrics and Singing: Wow, where to start on this one. The first song on this cd to really catch my attention was track 4 "Two is better than One". "There's so much time, to figure out the rest of our lives, and you've already got me going under, i'm thinking two is better than one." The words sound so much more mature to me than anything off their first record. It's almost like Martin is starting to grow up a little bit. I also found myself singing "Contagious" over and over in my head all day, which tells me that they definitely show their ability to write a catchy chorus. Most of the lyrics on the album are pretty solid. // 9

Impression: I won't compare Love Drunk to any other bands because I think as a whole they have their own thing going on. Their style is pop-rock with a little bit of punk feel thrown in there. The most solid songs on the album are "Love Drunk", "Two is better than One, "Contagious", "Someone Like You", and "Chemicals Collide". In my opinion, it's not as good as their first one. But there are a lot of good songs on the album that I think will stick with BLG fans for a long time. The only negative thing I would say there is about this album is that it's a little too "poppy" and not enough rock-oriented. The band is growing and I believe Boys Like Girls as a long successful future ahead of them. // 7

Comments

[daeqwon10000]

These guys are from two towns over, I don't like them, but my girlfriend is obsessed, they write some catchy tunes I guess.

[!BEN!]

i dont think this'll be classic rock in 20 years =/

[manda1303]

I'm really excited to get the new album =] First one was amazing.

[cofinboy]

eeeh i hope they tour!

[gtrfreak182]

is this a serious review? boys like girls =/= classic rock and has no relationship to it. it is a generic sounding pop cd that no one will remember 5 years from now. classic rock? you've got to be kidding me.

[ratiug_player]

Go boys like girls

[model_15]

sounds and looks exactly like one of those bands whose soul purpose is to pick up under age chicks at their shows. They really lack any lyrical depth I am quite positive these "dime a dozen" pop/rock artists won't even be thought of in the next 20 years

[Dallen_007]

Once again the review feels like a review of a bottle of wine. We get it, you have a large vocabulary, but there is no need for these ridiculous reviews. I have yet to hear the album, though this review doesn't really sell it to me at all.

[WyldeMan666]

wtf I didnt know band could have "tight rack-and-pinion steering" maybe they can come help me fix my truck while there at it

[GeekInThePink]

Classic rock in 20 years? More like forgotten in one.

[chrisdazzo]

I'm going to agree with Dallen_007 here. You have to listen to this album to truly see if you like it or not. Shame that so many people commenting here have the worst grammar/spelling I've ever seen; I don't think they'll have to worry about not listening to this in 20 years. Weird, though: it seems that Jason Mraz fans (assuming GeekInThePink's name refers to Mraz's song) don't like this band. Oh well. To each his own, I suppose.

[nautiluspfd]

Terrible review. The new album has nothing in common whatsoever with finger 11 or three days grace. In all actuallity love drunk resembles a Miley Cyrus album with male vocals. I actually enjoyed their first album, but this new one sounds like it was geared towards the Disney audience. Also there is a lyric that states that "now she has a boyfriend and Im in a rock band". Yikes. Didn't Avril lavigne already write something like that?

[oncenfutureidio]

Boys Like Girls have catchy lyrics, but its not lyrics that I've never heard before. At first they were good, but they are influenced pop garbage. I listened to their new single and was very disappointed by it. There was a real lack of what their first album had and that, my friends, is talent. So I'm sorry Boys Like Girls, this was a disappointment

checked.
keep it civil plz. no leaving comments that just say 'this sux yo'.

[TromboneThunder]

If this is classic in twenty years, then someone up there really hates music.

[GeekInThePink]

chrisdazzo wrote:

Iit seems that Jason Mraz fans (assuming GeekInThePink's name refers to Mraz's song) don't like this band. Oh well. To each his own, I suppose.

Jason's great (though I'm not as into him as I was when I made that username), but I'm not one of those people that eats up everything pop charts throw at me. In fact, I dislike most music on the radio (I do give it a chance first).

[classrock77]

In 20 years this, along with the majority of every thing else the radieo plays will be unheard of, hell, it will be unheard of in 6 months. Classic rock doesnt mean its just old, it means they are the classics of the rock industry that made rock into the giant genre it is today, and will never be forgotten for it. Bands like this =/= classic rock.

[VegetaSWE]

there lyrics are as bad as mind...but they write nice pop/punk melodys who stays on your mind and it much better for young girls to listen to them than to other shit whos out there so ..they are good for musik even if there musik aint the best..

[rodro91]

ok, liked the first album, but the new one is not my type

[Pat_s1t]

!BEN! wrote:

i dont think this'll be classic rock in 20 years =/

My thoughts exactly...

[watchtherain]

this is a lot less pop-ish than their first album and i'm really looking forward to get my hands on it

[5150addict]

I've never liked this band and all the bands they the writer made comparisons to made me hate them even more. three days grace? tantric? come on. I could write a better music review then this shit.,

[Vinushka]

Lyrics definitely don't sound like they deserve an 8.
Also, this is basically a lot of pomp and padding with very little actual reviewing. I acknowledge your ability to pull metaphors out of every orifice but all that fancy talk doesn't help us know what the album's like.

[AlexBristolUK]

Yeah bit fo a ridiculously written review, made me laugh a bit. Still, 5150addict, if you can write a better music review... then do? Seems simple to me.

Naturally people aren't going to like this band but it seems to me a lot of people at the moment are just hideously closed minded and seem to lack understanding of the concept of 'genre'. Genre does exist, and there is variation within it. One emo pop band doesn't sound exactly like the next one, no matter how much your distaste may lead you to believe. I don't come on here and bash reviews for bands or genres you like. I think the reviewer's point regarding classic rock was another example of bad writing, but simply at the moment, its contemporary, written in the present in a genre popular in the present. In the future pretty much anything will be 'classic'. I suppose people will tell me bands like Led Zep are classic rock. I'm not a big fan to be honest. But I'm not gonna bash people who are.

Chill out about it. Why take the time to log in and say you don't like something when you could be chatting to like minded people about the last album you actually did enjoy?

On topic: I liked the first album, and I'm giving this one a listen right now and I think its cool. Nothing groundbreaking or spectacular but it sounds pretty cool to me. Guess thats one more thing I get to enjoy in my life that some of you guys don't. Sahweeeeet.

[Relativiti]

really bad. couldn't listen to one full song on this album.

[DontFightTheFoo]

Stop whining.

Just because it's not your genre, doesn't mean it's crap.

[vIsIbleNoIsE]

classic rock twenty years from now? the future is bleak.

[scimitar_255]

AlexBristolUK wrote:

Yeah bit fo a ridiculously written review, made me laugh a bit. Still, 5150addict, if you can write a better music review... then do? Seems simple to me.

Naturally people aren't going to like this band but it seems to me a lot of people at the moment are just hideously closed minded and seem to lack understanding of the concept of 'genre'. Genre does exist, and there is variation within it. One emo pop band doesn't sound exactly like the next one, no matter how much your distaste may lead you to believe. I don't come on here and bash reviews for bands or genres you like. I think the reviewer's point regarding classic rock was another example of bad writing, but simply at the moment, its contemporary, written in the present in a genre popular in the present. In the future pretty much anything will be 'classic'. I suppose people will tell me bands like Led Zep are classic rock. I'm not a big fan to be honest. But I'm not gonna bash people who are.

Chill out about it. Why take the time to log in and say you don't like something when you could be chatting to like minded people about the last album you actually did enjoy?

On topic: I liked the first album, and I'm giving this one a listen right now and I think its cool. Nothing groundbreaking or spectacular but it sounds pretty cool to me. Guess thats one more thing I get to enjoy in my life that some of you guys don't. Sahweeeeet.

This is quite honestly has the best grammar and punctuation, and also is the most informative and well-written comment I have ever seen on UG.

On that note, I've never really liked Boys Like Girls that much...

[Lama]

the lyrics for these really aren't good by any standard. they are standard run of the mill songs about girls and really not much more. i'm not even really impressed with their hooks cause i didn't think any of them were really memorable or anthemic in any way. there are better pop rock bands out there, these guys just happen to have a couple of catchy songs that got them on the radar. and crunchy guitars and explosive shreds?! this is a very electronic sounding pop rock album. i was very underwhelmed with this album. i was hoping for some fun mindless catchy singalong tunes, but instead just found myself skipping to the next track after the first chorus.

[St3vo88]

ill off myself before this is ever considered classic rock

[quicksilver1814]

I think they suck quite honestly. They just use catchy songs about love to teenage girls who sing them. Its just a marketing technique.

[foster.getagrip]

I agree that this album will be easily forgotten, and alot of other bands sound similar, but in order to be a well rounded musician, you can't just bag on all music you don't like, and then go play Metallica in your room. Lots of "Punk-Pop" bands are really good, such as The Maine, Hit the Lights, and All Time Low. But on the same measure, some "Punk-Pop" bands suck, like Metro Station (currently touring with Hannah Montana), and Jonas Brothers.

[swyg2]

id like to hear the new album. their self titled wasnt bad.

[5150addict]

Yeah bit fo a ridiculously written review, made me laugh a bit. Still, 5150addict, if you can write a better music review... then do? Seems simple to me.

If someone at this site would give me a chance I GLADLY would.

[Anonymouslyours]

dareiask...
...then what WILL be considered classic rock in 20 years?

[skatarist4life]

Synyster915 wrote:

cotton3434 wrote:

I read the headline and actually nearly barfed... may god have mercy on me the day I'm forced to endure listening to this.

This. Not to mention this will NEVER be considered classic rock, they'll be forgotten in 5 years.

5 years....they'll be forgotten in less than 1 year

[ragethetool]

AlexBristolUK wrote:

Yeah bit fo a ridiculously written review, made me laugh a bit. Still, 5150addict, if you can write a better music review... then do? Seems simple to me.

Naturally people aren't going to like this band but it seems to me a lot of people at the moment are just hideously closed minded and seem to lack understanding of the concept of 'genre'. Genre does exist, and there is variation within it. One emo pop band doesn't sound exactly like the next one, no matter how much your distaste may lead you to believe. I don't come on here and bash reviews for bands or genres you like. I think the reviewer's point regarding classic rock was another example of bad writing, but simply at the moment, its contemporary, written in the present in a genre popular in the present. In the future pretty much anything will be 'classic'. I suppose people will tell me bands like Led Zep are classic rock. I'm not a big fan to be honest. But I'm not gonna bash people who are.

Chill out about it. Why take the time to log in and say you don't like something when you could be chatting to like minded people about the last album you actually did enjoy?

On topic: I liked the first album, and I'm giving this one a listen right now and I think its cool. Nothing groundbreaking or spectacular but it sounds pretty cool to me. Guess thats one more thing I get to enjoy in my life that some of you guys don't. Sahweeeeet.

This. Not a fan of the band or the music, but somebody obviously enjoys the music, so no reason to bash it. While this band may not be as talented as our beloved Jimmy Page, Paul Gilbert, Satriani, etc. they're still artists and you have to appreciate the fact that it is art.

[Quik Axe Player]

I think people have too many preformed ideas about bands of this type of genre. To me it seems like many people here think that all theses bands are going to be exactly like the Jonas Brothers. Well, this just isn't true. I also think that people judge an album before listening to it. For example, I'm sure that many people thought Chinese Democracy was going to suck. For the record, that album is a fairly solid album, though it still can't be AFD.

So, I leave you with my take on peoples' preformed ideas. You can take it or leave it.

[GrayFoxz]

released, 8 sept? isnt it the 3rd/4th wherever u are in the world.. unless that's like a prerelease issue?

[GrayFoxz]

released on 8th sept? isnt this like the 3rd/4th sept wherever anyone is? or is this like a prerelease issue or something. i don't really care much about the band but girls think they make good music.

[Thespade22]

so much close mindedness ><

just because its popular, or because it doesn't have 250 bpm solos or technical guitar parts doesn't make it a bad album

[goranwood]

And just because it has boring two-chord progressions and the vocals of Maroon 5 doesn't make it a good one, either.

[Kirdy]

chill out women,
If u don't like boys like girls don't click the link.

Seems pretty ****ing simple to me

[hazardmaster]

Just because YOU don't like it doesn't mean everyone else doesn't. I enjoy metal, techno, punk, rock, pop, and pretty much every genre except R&B, rap, or classical. Be open minded, people.

It's all a matter of opinion! Although personally myself, a classic rock album in 20 years? Nope. But I do this this this album is better than their self-titled debut.

Kirdy wrote:

chill out women,
If u don't like boys like girls don't click the link.

Seems pretty ****ing simple to me

you'd think so...

checked

[heyitsperkins]

I like boys like girls, they have a lot of good songs off their first album, and i expect this to be just as good if not better.
But classic rock? I think not. Good music, but it wont be remembered 20 years from now like the Avenged Sevenfold's and Shinedown's will be.

[Paro_metalhead]

skatarist4life wrote:

Synyster915 wrote:

cotton3434 wrote:

haha so tue, this band blows

I read the headline and actually nearly barfed... may god have mercy on me the day I'm forced to endure listening to this.

This. Not to mention this will NEVER be considered classic rock, they'll be forgotten in 5 years.

5 years....they'll be forgotten in less than 1 year

[jayden453]

model_15 wrote:

sounds and looks exactly like one of those bands whose soul purpose is to pick up under age chicks at their shows. They really lack any lyrical depth I am quite positive these "dime a dozen" pop/rock artists won't even be thought of in the next 20 years

Yep These guys have nothing on Bon Jovi. They'll be in and out again like lil pop oncers.
Love Drunk and Hungover is'nt exactly lyrical genius.

[HurricaneSG]

i liked the self-titeled album but this disappointed me so much. the lyrics are shallow and most songs are overproduced and lack creativity..

[foster.getagrip]

Well, this isn't my favorite band.. but like others have said before, be open minded.
This type of music is the type that all the cute girls listen too, just putting that out there!!!

[AlexBristolUK]

@5150addict:

Dude, come on. Look at the website you're using in a bit more depth. I decided I liked an album a couple of weeks ago and wanted to tell the world, so I came on here and made an account. The first thing I did was write a review, and it got posted. Its easy. You don't need people on here to give you a chance to do it. Unless your reviews are being rejected because they aren't good enough? I dunno.