Boy Genius is a band from Brooklyn. Now Brooklyn conjures up a whole lot of avant-weird connotations these days; noise punks and freaky-screeching performance "art" based food-for-thought. And some of it is actually good (for an acquired taste)! But Brooklyn doesn't usually mean songwriting in the same way as some of the alternative bands coming from the midwest, Chicago, Nashville, etc, and its a shame, these places yield great stuff. But sometimes, the universe gives us a band that writes songs we can digest with one bite. Songs that taste clean and good and go with everything.
Jason Korenkiewicz started writing songs in 2006 for a two-man acoustic project, later dubbed Boy Genius by a party goer who declared them neither. They worked with Josh Clark (Beirut and the New Pornographers) on their first few EPs and
Anchorage, the first record, all recorded in the BK.
Immediately after the first record, the band (Korenkiewicz, Marisa Cerio on lead guitar and backing vocals, Lisa Klimkiewicz on drums and backing vocals & and Jeffrey Mensch on bass & backing vocals) decided on another pop rock producer for the second: Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Pavement, Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr, the dBs and Velvet Crush). Of course a variety of producers and a variety of related acts via those producers is bound to produce an interesting amalgamated sound, and the bands latest,
Staggering, due this month.
According to the band's bio, the goal of Staggering was to create an album honoring the vinyl format, planning out tracking by sides and recording in a manner that would glorify the format. Vinyl versions of the record have been pressed from tape sessions only, completely ignoring digital processing entirely (kind of cool!) The band chose to record in North Carolina, at Easter's fantastic Fidelitorium in Kernersville, but they are still a Brooklyn band at heart. Oh, they also kind of sound like The Cure. No, definitely The Cure.
Staggering is out 1/26. -
joe puglisi
Tour Dates for Boy Genius
01/22 - Staggering Tour - Wilmington, DE
01/23 - Golden West Cafe - Baltimore, MD
01/24 - The Triple - Richmond, VA
01/25 - The Cave - Chapel Hill, NC
01/26 - The Garage - Winston Salem, NC
01/27 - The Pinhook - Durham, NC
01/28 - Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, GA
01/29 - Flicker Theater & Bar - Athens, GA
02/05 - Permanent Records - Brooklyn, NY
02/12 - Elevens - Northampton, MA
02/13 - Toad - Cambridge, MA
02/26 - Cameo Gallery - Brooklyn, NY
* * * * * * * * * * * *
MP3: Boy Genius - "Ramona Saves The Day" (Staggering)
Boy Genius