Classic ’00s indie guitar music is a genre we’re all familiar with. It’s bright, it’s danceable, it’s catchy—and it was bloody everywhere between 2003 and 2007.
Broken Boy’s new single “Ready” fits into all of the above categories—other than that fact that it was released last month, and maybe it is because of this fact that I am struggling a little to get on board with it. There is nothing wrong here, it has a great hook and chorus, pop sensibilities built on lightly distorted guitars, and Cam Black’s voice has the nice mix of charm and boyish brashness. What I’m getting at is that if this your thing, Broken Boy do it very well.
It’s just that it has been done, and done a lot. There was a reason music lovers in this country moved on. The champions of the indie boom like Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, etc., all realized that the well had run dry and new styles and sounds needed to be employed. That’s not to say skinny boys with guitars have had their day, just that it’s not really something people are craving at the moment—myself included. To keep with the well metaphor, it needs to be given time to refill before we can drink from it again.
Who knows, Broken Boy could be one of the champions of a new indie wave and I could be completely wrong about this track. The band have played support slots with both Catfish and the Bottlemen and Circa Waves which is nothing to be sniffed at, but at the moment I worry about their chances of being heard by an audience that, from where I’m sat, still isn’t very interested in what they’re playing.
“Ready” by Broken Boy is out now via Vadana Records.
