The music of L.A.'s Dear Boy is fairly effective if wildly derivative. For younger listeners, this might all seem more fresh than it does to me. But I've got to be honest and say that to my old(er) ass, lots of Forever Sometimes sounds like bands I was rocking out to in the late Eighties. Still, that's not to say that Dear Boy aren't very good at this sort of thing.
"(On My) Mind" soars with a dash of O.M.D. and a few dashes of Simple Minds, while "Unbecoming" works up a nice energy atop riffs that recall the class of 1985. There's nothing horrible on Forever Sometimes, but it's hard to get too excited about some of this, especially the slower numbers where the band seems to be noodling a bit. That said, the peppier tracks are winning, and it's hard to not like this kind of thing, especially if you can hear the hints here of what the band's clear influences. Fans of early tracks from The Killers, Wire Train, and Thompson Twins will find portions of this very pleasant, even catchy too. I'm anxious to hear more from Dear Boy, even though Forever Sometimes is mostly recommended as the soundtrack to the John Hughes film in your head.
Forever Sometimes is out now.
[Photo: Dear Boy Bandcamp]