On “The Record,” Boygenius Cements Their Friendship in Song

Indie rock artists Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker formed Boygenius in 2018. Outside of this group, the three friends are solo indie artists who were all women making names for themselves in the indie scene around the same time. Their relatively similar timelines of success correspond to their emo-folk leanings, giving rise to Boygenius: a cohesive band, rather than a scattered collage of three successful women.

Boygenius released their debut album “The Record” on March 31, 2023. “The Record” is a love letter to devoted friendship and vulnerability. Baker, Bridgers and Dacus write and sing about subjective struggles, and the lifelong love that makes them stronger. They sing to and for each other, as well as to and for what they see in each other that makes them stronger; because no one understands them like they understand one another.

On the opening track, "Without You Without Them," Dacus sings, "Give me everything you've got, I'll take what I can get." Ultimately, the acapella tune, colored in with harmonies from Baker and Bridgers, serves as the album’s thesis. Who would these women be without each other and the experiences that intwine them? It seems they can only understand if they let it out throughout the rest of “The Record.” Separate from the rest of the album, the introductory song is an inquisitive lullaby that cuts off before it can (dangerously) descend into philosophical temporal musings.

The singles featuring each of the group members on main vocals, “$20,” (Baker), “Emily I’m Sorry” (Bridgers), and “True Blue” (Dacus) each speak to the artists’ personal forms of longing and pain in both love and life. “$20” conforms to the electric, drum-driven indie rock that Baker often produces with her dragging lyrics, aptly crashing their way through her story of fighting against self-destructive behaviors while wanting to rage against the machine. 

“Emily I’m Sorry” contrasts with “True Blue” in lyricism— “Emily I’m Sorry” is tuned to Bridgers chopped lyrics that run into separate lines, run-on thoughts and dream metaphors— while Dacus lilts a desperately hopeful literary poetic of a blossoming love, knowing someone’s thoughts and feelings despite oneself. Dacus sings, “I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself,” on “True Blue,” tying these singles together into a story of how these women run from what is right, either in their heads or out loud. 

The fifth track, “Cool About It,” is a folly acoustic tune, in which each artist sings a verse and chorus. Both “Cool About It,” and the following track," "Not Strong Enough,” speak to not getting what one needs from themself or someone else, both in a relationship or after it ends. Both are two of my favorite songs on “The Record,” particularly “Not Strong Enough,” because it is both aggrandizing and urgent in its reclamation and rebranding of what a sensitivity means, especially for women in music who sing about pain and are perceived differently than male artists. The two songs are deceivingly, toe-tappingly positive— until the bass drum and electric guitar come to the surface in the bridge of “Not Strong Enough”’s bridge, as Dacus repeats the chorus with more desperation in her voice.

The lowlights of the album are mainly due to the lack of instrumental variations— or the signature sadness of each of the artists simply dragging on a bit too long. In the songs “Revolution 0” and “Leonard Cohen”, listeners have heard these same acoustic chords strummed over and over. “Revolution 0” sounds as if it belongs on solely a Phoebe Bridgers record, while its companion, an interlude-adjacent “Leonard Cohen” has truthful lyrics and beautiful harmonies, but doesn’t vary it’s instrumentation enough to cohesively transition to discussions of patriarchy and femme-fueled anger. 

“Leonard Cohen” is a quick listen, as opposed to “We’re in Love.” The plunky, echoey piano, and soft violins are a welcome change from the intense drums and eager acoustics of most of the tracks on “The Record.” “We’re in Love” is a song by Dacus, but doesn’t sound like a ballad from Dacus— it sounds like a ballad from boygenius. However, the length of this song coupled with the sadness of the instrumentals makes it difficult to casually enjoy “We’re in Love.”

Despite any pitfalls in dynamism throughout “The Record,” “Letter to an Old Poet” makes up for lack of variety. Bridgers is Bridgers without overpowering the song, there is piano that doesn’t drone on, it wakes up, and whining violins underneath the ending lines “I wanna be happy, I’m ready!” The song is a letter to friends, lovers, and fans, past and present. 

“The Record” fulfills its job as a debut album for the supergroup Boygenius. As each artist reaches personal successes as women in music, they come together with all of their originality to create an album that speaks to their strengths as individuals. They sing to what ultimately makes them powerful together on standout tracks like “Not Strong Enough” and “Letter to an Old Poet,” in lyrics that echo in one’s head for days such as, “If nothing can be known, then stupidity is holy,” off of “Satanist.” Boygenius will only continue to develop their sounds and lyrical stories as they grow together.

★★★★☆