boygenius
boygenius

LA RECENSIONE

From what I recall, this might be the first all-female supergroup in rock history.

The protagonists are Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, three young representatives of American folk, straddling alternative and indie, in other words, a form of folk that doesn't shy away from instrumentation and repeated electric incursions.

Despite their respective peculiarities, Julien, Phoebe, and Lucy follow the same trend, and in recent months, this has often led them to cross paths. Initially, it was more about sharing the stage for a series of performances, but then, quite naturally, the idea of transferring that sharing from stage to recording studio matured.

This is how "boygenius", their eponymous debut mini LP, was born.

In reality, in essence, boygenius is anything but a supergroup. It’s true that this term is always associated with grandiosity and projects planned on a large scale by those calling the shots for a bunch of established rock stars, who are more or less at their wit's end, eager to join forces to squeeze a few more drops of blood from the turnip.

boygenius is quite the opposite, an idea nurtured by these three women slowly and perhaps unconsciously, envisioning before their eyes—certainly theirs, but also mine—spring days spent trying out some new tracks with a deeply autumnal flavor, to then perform in front of a crowd of close friends, certainly not in a large open space for the oceanic multitudes of rock gatherings.

The album, published just under a month ago, captures Julien, Phoebe, and Lucy fresh from their latest solo efforts—Phoebe Bridgers' "Stranger in the Alps" came out in September 2017, while Julien Baker's "Turn Out the Lights" and Lucy Dacus' "Historians" both came out in 2018, with Baker's almost contemporaneous with "boygenius"—and it's normal that the moods of their solo endeavors flow into their joint project: thus moving from the dreamy rock atmospheres of "Bite the Hand" by Dacus, to the more earthy and radical vibes within "Me & My Dog" by Bridgers, which proudly claims its Smithian inspiration (as in Elliott) and onto the subtle melancholy that veils "Stay Down" by Baker, until everything fits perfectly into the beautiful, choral "Ketchum, ID," sealing the album.

In short, a stripped-down record that bans special effects to live on emotions, sometimes even minimal but nonetheless always profound, whose only "defect" is its extreme brevity—just over 20 minutes total for the six tracks—but for me, I've already come to terms with it because, if these are the premises, the hope is that there will be a next step from boygenius, and it could be really substantial.

Whatever happens, three women to follow with the utmost care, even in their solo ventures.