Boyfrndz: U Jam?

What’s in a name? A band can give the impression of crappiness via a lame band name, even if that band totally rules. Then, though a listener is rewarded with their awesome music, the listener faces a tough sell to friends. Many a time you’ve cornered a bud with pleas to check out the mind-blowing album by an ugh-monikered band like Lillian Axe. Wrathchild America. Savatage. Tortorum. It’s an uphill battle.

Now, such is not the case with Boyfrndz — that’s a killer band name — yet it causes a similar snag, I think? For that band name primes a listener to expect, oh, maybe a light-hearted grind crew like Tony Danza Tapdance Experience, or maybe a snotty spaz clique à la Mindless Self Indulgence. Whatever the name conjures, its all-important first impression does not point you to ceiling-scraping psych metal from the fourth dimension. But that’s Boyfrndz on their second album Breeder (out today via Brutal Panda): Late-era Mars Volta by fans of Torche and Jesu, and for lovers of riveting, occasionally bluesy songcraft — not something you’d text your teen cousins about. So now we’re cornering you, dear MetalSucks reader, with a little advice: Crank the shit up (below)! U jam?

Boyfrndz’s new album Breeder is out now on Brutal Panda. Order it here, vinyl here.