The Boy Least Likely To
Law Of The Playground
Release Date: Apr 14, 2009
Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Pop
Record label: Red Eye
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Album Review: Law Of The Playground by The Boy Least Likely To
Fairly Good, Based on 5 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
One of the poems in A. A. Milne’s When We Were Very Young is called “Spring Morning”. It wonders to itself, repeatedly, “Where am I going?”, and continues, “I don’t quite know. / What does it matter where people go?” Through simple language and a child’s literal viewpoint, Milne ….
Based on rating 7.5/10
Childhood isn't kids' stuff. Like Tom Cruise, or life in Hobbes' state of nature, it can be nasty, brutish, and short. Language that would make Rahm Emanuel or a "South Park" writer blush. Intolerance enough to have Rush Limbaugh sound like Gandhi. A mini shock'n'awe campaign of child-on-insect ….
Based on rating 3/5
Simon Fuller isn't noted for his tolerance of whimsical English niche-pop, but nevertheless, he signed this duo to his label after their first record, which became one of pitchfork.com's top 50 albums of 2005. Now independent again, singer Jof Owen and instrumentalist Peter Hobbs have produced a followup that crosses the line from whimsy to tweeness. Anyone who fails to see the appeal of men in their 20s producing nursery-rhyme cuteness will find The Law of the Playground deeply irritating, but connoisseurs of this kind of thing will be in heaven.
Based on rating 6/10
That dreaded second album. Do you try to recapture the sound and feeling of the first record, which almost never works, or do you try to move ahead to something entirely new? The Boy Least Likely To take the former route on their sophomore album, The Law of the Playground, and for the most part it works out pretty well. It doesn't reach the same giddy heights as their debut, The Best Party Ever, but that would have been a lot to ask.
Based on rating 3/10
When The Boy Least Likely To released their début in 2005, you’d be forgiven for dismissing them as a couple of indie milksops with less cojones than a castrato. The album was called The Best Party Ever, the cover art featured crudely-drawn cartoon animals and balloons on a dazzlingly-bright yellow background, there was more glockenspiel than a primary school music class and a song about old-fashioned fizzy drinks (Warm Panda Cola). However, given a bit of time to bed in, it had more substance than you would have initially thought.