It's not a surprise at all nowadays to discover another great indie band that I was unaware of previously - there are dozens of them that I hope to introduce you to in the coming weeks.

In this case I'm talking about the English pop/country duo The Boy Least Likely To comprised of composer and multi-instrumentalist Pete Hobbs and songwriter/singer Jof Owen. Earlier this month they released their new album The Law of the Playground.

Owen and Hobbs attended school together in the village of Wendover, Buckinghamshire in England. While classmates in school they began to write music together. In 2003, they released their first record in 2003. The duo's eclectic sound features pleasing blends of banjos, pianos, guitars, bass, drums, chimes, violins and electronic sound effects accented by dynamic vocal arrangements.

BLLT have a real knack for creating totally unique, upbeat songs that thoroughly explore the landscape of musical possibilities, ranging in sounds similar to obvious influences from The Beatles (i.e., "The Boy Least Likely To Is A Machine") to ELO ("Every Goliath Has Its David), and more modern bands like Camera Obscura and Architecture in Helsinki.

Buy this album. If you like the songs below, you're sure to like just about every track on this album including songs like "The Boy With Two Hearts," "A Fairtale Ending" and "A Balloon On A Broken String." The track "Saddle Up" is a perfect example of BLLT's pure and original talent to mix country and pop and make it sound really good.

The Law of the Playground is one of the most masterful pop albums of 2009 hands down, and likely to be one of IRC's best albums of 2009. Sure, it's early still to say that, but this one is a guarantee.

"Saddle Up" - The Boy Least Likely To from The Law of the Playground
"A Balloon On A Broken String" - The Boy Least Likely To from The Law of the Playground

Get the album

Labels: New Releases