Boys Night Out takes a daring fugitive-style leap with conceptual Trainwreck
Boys Night Out :: Nintendo Fusion Tour :: Fillmore Auditorium :: November 9
By Brandon Daviet
Many bands wait until late in their careers to put out a full-fledged concept album.
Pink Floyd were well into their drug-induced ramblings before they released The Wall. The Who were superstars on both sides of the pond when they released Tommy, and even Green Day waited until they were the established voice of the iPod Generation before they released American Idiot. Not so for Ontario, Canada punk rockers Boys Night Out, who have released the dramatic and conceptual Trainwreck as their third studio album.
In many ways, Trainwreck is much darker than the aforementioned American Idiot. Whereas Green Day took the story of a boy sent off to lose his own life in Iraq, Trainwreck tells a story of loss that is a lot closer to home.
Trainwreck follows the story of a man who kills his girlfriend and then, under the influence of psychotropic drugs and the watchful eye of medical professionals, wrestles with the demons in his head. While the story ultimately ends in redemption, the path that it follows is filled with tragedy. All of the song titles on Trainwreck contain just one word and describe an action. Tracks like “Medicating” and “Sentencing” take the listener through each step of the main character’s decline and redemption.
Boy’s Night Out guitarist Jeff Davis took some time to speak with The Marquee about the band’s chilling new album and upcoming tour. “We really knew what we wanted to do with the album from the beginning,” said Davis. “We have wanted to do a concept album for a long time and I had a lot of the record already written.”
Listening to the raw brilliance of Trainwreck, it is overtly, and sometimes painfully obvious that a lot of the material came from the band’s collective soul. “We really wanted each song on the album to tell its own part of the story,” Davis said.
For the most part, the band has accomplished their mission. Trainwreck plays out like a ratings sweep-week episode of “Law and Order” and still manages to hold several radio-ready songs. Still, when the band brought the album to their label, Ferret Records, the label was a bit hesitant at first.
“We made a decision to make sure the record had some catchy songs on it and, in the end, I think we did that,” said Davis. “But yeah, the record company had some worries at first, but after they heard the record they got behind us one hundred percent.”
Part of the record company’s concern was centered on the fact that Boys Night Out had come up with, among other things, song titles that were humorous and over the top. Songs like “I got punched in the face for sticking my nose in other peoples business” seemed a far cry from the seriousness of Trainwreck. “If anything,” said Davis, “I really think a lot of our stuff comes off as tongue-in-cheek but really isn’t.”
Despite the initial trepidation, Trainwreck has been well received by fans and Boys Night Out will be heading out on the Nintendo Fusion Tour this fall. The shows will feature an interactive setup focusing on Nintendo’s best games and the tour has already sold out several dates. Boys Night Out will begin spreading the story of Trainwreck to hordes of new fans. “We will only be playing parts of the album on this tour, but we are all big fans of video games, so the tour is going to be lots of fun,” Davies concluded.
Boys Night Out :: Nintendo Fusion Tour :: Fillmore Auditorium :: November 9
Spectate if you Gravitate:
• Green Day
• Nine Inch Nails
• Pink Floyd
