Repetition's key when it comes to pop music, but please boys, this is ridiculous. While made-for-Misshapes, UK indie-dancerockers Boy Kill Boy get A's for effort, debut Civilian is little more than overhyped, albeit danceable déjà vu-- repeating and threepeating ad infinitum, nauseum. Boy Kill Boy don't simply give nods to Killers, Maxïmo Park, Hot Hot Heat, Kaiser Chiefs, Interpol, and whatever slew of 1980s and 90s bands the aforementioned exalt, they're pulling John Travoltas à la Face/Off-- turning out near-spitting images of their precursors, contributing little else to a no longer cozy dancerock niche. What's more, Boy Kill Boy don't just replicate, songs recur even internally: "Back Again" needs no backup singers; Chris Peck might as well be four people, boldly echoing where few men have echoed before.
Fair warning came with 2005's Fierce Panda single "Suzie", a nightmarish carousel of a song, whining "Countdown, countdown, countdown to the disappointment." As track three on Civilian, it foreshadows the album's trajectory. Opener "Back Again" is Boy Kill Boy at their most listenable; from there, Civilian grows exponentially exhausting: Nearly all tracks bear identical starts and drum beats, and those that don't fall remarkably flat. "Showdown" meanders down a relatively snail-paced road that Boy Kill Boy should avoid; "Ivy Parker" falls victim to identical feeble, circular sluggishness; likewise, "Shoot Me Down" starts off mimicking an Interpol song, then turns into what's poised to be our generation's elevator muzak.
Then there's that voice: Peck's Paul Banks/Chris Martin pipes are exactly like the guy from Stellastarr and just as incredibly, irritatingly grating, affected, and peppy-- lyrically alluding to woes when they're better off embodying the happy-go-lucky. Case in point: It's hard to take Peck seriously while he's warbling, "Close to madness/ So demanding, I can't breathe anymore/ I'll never be the same again/ Please forgive me, and forget me."
