Album Review: Crazy World LP by Boys Like Girls

On their last album, Boys Like Girls made the unspoken connection between emo-pop and country-pop into something more tangible by performing a duet with Taylor Swift. Both styles share a radio-ready slickness, a tenuous connection to the sound they're derived from (punk, country), and teenage love-lost lyrical angst, no matter the age of the singer. It’s surprising more bands haven’t made the attempt to cross over, but on Crazy World, the group mostly leave emo-pop behind and dive headfirst into sleeveless, dusty country.

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This review originally ran in AP 294. Boys Like Girls showed up in 2005 with a major-label deal in hand, a debut album loaded with co-writes and a sound best described as “Holy shit, how are the All-American Rejects not suing these jokers for copyright infringement yet?” Of course, the contemporary punk scene has taken a drastic swerve toward all things heavy, leaving little room for the type of fun-loving, lyrically empty emo-pop BLG were plying. Cue the reinvention: After bassist Bryan Donahue departed to focus on his authentic country-rock act the Tower And The Fool, the rest of the band decided to morph themselves into a country band of a much different variety.

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