"Boy Genius are definitely within the indiepop realm but not too sugary, not too precious, relying on well-crafted melodies and gentle, mostly-acoustic instrumentation to carry the songs...Boy Genius deserve more attention than they've gotten, hopefully that will come soon." - Brooklyn Vegan
Boy Genius released the "Blame Love" 7 inch single to rave reviews in the spring of 2009. Now, almost a year later, here is the Staggering version of "Blame Love", to be released on January 26, 2010, via Greenpop Recordings!
Jason Korenkiewicz began writing songs in 2006 for a two-man acoustic project tentatively called Boy Genius. One night at a party someone declared them ‘neither boys, nor geniuses’ and the name was solidified.
Their first two EPs and debut album, Anchorage, were all recorded in Brooklyn, NY with engineer Josh Clark at Seaside Lounge. Clark had just finished working with Beirut and the New Pornographers and his ability to capture horns, multi-layered vocals and a wide array of instruments made him a great match for Boy Genius. Within days of releasing Anchorage, however, the band (now Jason on guitar and vocals, Marisa Cerio on lead guitar, Lisa Klimkiewicz on drums and backing vocals, and Jeff Mensch on bass) decided that legendary producer/musician Mitch Easter would be the person to work with on their second album. Known best for his work with bands like R.E.M., Pavement, Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr, the dBs and Velvet Crush, Easter’s pop sensibility and distinctive recording style seemed a perfect fit for Boy Genius. They began sending him demos and, within a few months, Easter agreed to produce their second album, Staggering.
From its inception, the goal with Staggering was to craft an album tailor-made for vinyl that would both glorify the format and preserve the history of the LP. It was conceived in sequence as two sides of a full-length record, each with its own distinct beginning, middle and end. Staggering was recorded over the course of 11 days at Easter’s fantastic Fidelitorium in Kernersville, NC. The collaboration with Easter proved to be a revelatory experience for the band, allowing them to build on the power of their live room recordings with subtle musical flourishes and layers of sound. The album was recorded on tape, mixed to tape and mastered directly from tape to the lacquers that press vinyl albums. While the decision to rely heavily on tape proved arduous at points, the result is an album that has all the warmth and charm of a classic vinyl pop record. For this reason Staggering will be available on vinyl only, in limited numbers, with a download code included for the modern-minded listener.
Staggering literally picks up where Anchorage left off, as the guitar line that closed the first album opens the second on electric harpsichord amongst a din of gong, feedback, crashing cymbals, piano and other instrumentation. Over the course of Staggering’s 38.5 minutes, the mix of jubilant pop songs, anthemic rock numbers and more subdued compositions are fleshed out with field recordings, tape loops, organs, fuzz, feedback, layered vocal harmonies, trumpet, timpani, glockenspiel and pretty much everything else imaginable. The result is an album that sounds wholly new, but would also feel right at home in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s or 2000s. Staggering further demonstrates why Indie MP3 called Boy Genius “a quintessential American college radio band.”
Boy Genius 2010 Tour:
01/08 - Cafe Nine - New Haven, CT
01/09 - Fort Useless - Brooklyn, NY
01/23 - Golden West - Baltimore, MD
01/24 - The Triple - Richmond, VA
01/25 - The Cave - Chapel Hill, NC (with Western Civ)
01/26 - The Garage - Winston Salem, NC (with Mitch Easter)
01/27 - The Pinhook - Durham, NC (with Mitch Easter & Western Civ)
01/28 - Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, GA (with Allison Weiss)
01/29 - Flicker Theater & Bar - Athens, GA (with Dead Dog & Grape Soda)
02/05 - Permanent Records - Brooklyn, NY (Record Release!)
02/12 - Elevens - Northampton, MA
02/13 - The Toad - Cambridge, MA (with Franklin Bruno & One Happy Island)
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