American rock band HIPPO CAMPUS (“Way It Goes”) released their single “Boys” on Oct. 19 as the first teaser for their album LP3 coming out Feb. 2, 2022.
The song has a beautiful and catchy melody and accompanying lyrics about living for the party scene of New York City and navigating that environment and using it to get over a breakup.
The lyrics start immediately with slower, more muted tones sung by lead singer Jake Luppon and utilizes strong piano chords that emphasize the words and their emotional weight as he reminisces about a past love singing, “Hated your friends/It was exciting/I miss the fighting.”
It then jumps into the first rendition of the chorus, still slower than the rest of the song, but it builds into a guitar heavy instrumental that picks up the pace and sets the tone for the remaining three and a half minutes. The less intense intro sets the scene for the lyrics as they describe a confusing and crazy time in life while over upbeat and seemingly happy tunes.
The chorus lyrics are perfectly written and show the negative sides of going out to forget, as they paint a picture of someone who wants to leave the past behind but struggles to do so. They also add a beautiful queerness to a song that could have easily avoided the topic, which gives it a deeper meaning for members of the LGBTQ+ community who may not often feel represented in music.
The words “Kissing boys, missing work/Got hungover from your words/Same New York, it’s the worst/All these nights are a blur,” describe the desperate attempts to forget a relationship, then continuing with “Going broke, make it rain/Ain’t got nobody to blame/All this time down the drain/I’m the best at insane,” showing that in the end they know it is just wasting time and making them more and more unstable.
The second verse is repeated twice, adding the mindset that this person is really out of their mind and cannot get over their lost relationship. Similar to the beginning, the instrumentals build behind the lyrics throughout the two segments that end with Luppen almost yelling, “I’m doing every line/I’m phasing out the humdrum/I do this every time/I’m turning on today/Ah, turning on today.”
After the explosive end to the verse, identical to the first rendition of the chorus, the song drops off into the muted and simple tone with Luppen’s vocals taking over a very quiet melody behind them. The end of “Boys” is a repeat of the chorus six times, which continues the theme of the person going out of their mind as they continue the cycle, and with each adding more complex and reminiscent themes from earlier parts of the song. It then fades out with the vocals becoming silent before the music, again calling back to Luppen’s quieter tone throughout the song.
“Boys” is a great option for those looking to just jam out or who need a breakup song with upbeat melodies and memorable lyrics. It is a great teaser for the rest of their album and their world tour, which kicks off Feb. 1, 2022 in the UK.
Image from Hippo Campus via YouTube
