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Boy Kill Boy are counting down to the release of their new album, ‘The Stars and The Sea’ with this, the second single to be taken from it. Sadly, the Leytonstone four-piece don’t come very close to the astronomical heights or aquatic depths they allude to in the lyrics of ‘Promises’, which is more the musical equivalent of a puddle lit up by a dodgy street lamp. It sounds like it went out of date a good five years ago, and even then, was an economy brand of a sound that only a handful of bands successfully managed to pull off – Killers, or Hot Hot Heat, for example.
A relentless guitar-pop chug persists throughout, overlaid by a tedious little keyboard riff that bears a remarkable resemblance to a Nokia ringtone. The vocals are particularly unimaginative, with Chris Peck affecting a damp slur as he slews his way through lyrics of the perfect emo-whine variety. Though likely to garner a bit of radio-play on the back of Boy Kill Boy’s brief 2006 flirt with cool, ‘Promises’ is an unpromising indication of things to come on ‘The Stars and The Sea’.
Released 17/03/08 on Mercury.
