In order for us to talk about boy bands, to really trace their lineage, we must think about what actually define as a boy band. While the term “boy band” wasn’t coined until the 1990’s, early antecedents exist. Of course there was New Kids On The Block, New Edition, latin group Menudo, dating back a decade before, but I’m talking about other groups. The Beatles have been referred to as the boy band of their generation. Certainly we must include The Monkees, who were assembled based almost entirely on their looks for a 1970’s TV show of the same name. Sound familiar? So, what constitutes a boy band, and are there any around today? I would classify any group of young males with overtly generically poppy music, good looks, and most importantly the overarching desire for success, up for nomination as a boy band. This severely broadens our study group. Of course there is something to be said for multiple vocalists, the ability to dance, and the lack of song writing skill that make our 90’s boy bands who they are. This opens the door for me to observe what I will call boy bands of today: the extremely poppy generic “pop/rock/emo?” bands such as Cartel, and Hellogoodbye.
There is no doubt that people will not agree with my overgeneralization of what constitutes a boy band. How dare I include some of his or her favorite groups today. The negative connotations that arise from calling a group a boy band stem mainly from their inability to write their own songs. That being said, a lot of boy band songs, even some co-written by members of the group itself are more complex in terms of musical structure than songs by pop/rock bands today. And what about the audience? Still targeted at pubertal girls, Cartel has been all over MTV, or at least I can recall them being so last year. (I won’t even go into detail about the lead singer’s undeniable resemblance to Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys) What of the shelf life of these bands? Like boy bands, there are so many similar sounding groups, that fan step on and off of the band “wagon” at the next metro stop.
The fans are those of the MySpace culture. Hellogoodbye is currently co-headlining the MySpace music tour, which I attended last Thursday, November 1st at Lupo’s in downtown Providence. I will only speak briefly and from memory on the details I saw. I wasn’t expecting to attend this concert, regarding it as a boy band showcase, and ethnographically analyze my experience. This realization only came to me after the show. I went to see the other co-headlining band, who, due to many reasons I would not classify as a boy band. (Even if my reasons are just, look at me defend a band I like from the boy band tag!) Anyways, upon first walking into concert hall, my first realization was that the majority of the crowd was younger than I. When Hellogoodbye took the stage, it became obvious that younger portion of the crowd was there to see them. Fans of the other co-headliner (who was playing after Hellogoodbye tonight) refrained from pushing forward to obtain a better view, and mingled more towards the back where I was. For those who don’t know Hellogoodbye, they are an extremely “feel-good-pop-rock” band. They use a fair amount of dance beats and synth blips and beeps in their music. While watching them play, it was apparent to me that the band was not playing all of electronic noises in all of their songs. Some songs had a backing track to which they played along. The singer also uses voice effects on a lot of their songs such as an intense auto-tune, which is found in a lot of 90’s boy band and pop songs, as well as a vocal harmonizer. Hellogoodbye’s set was comprised mostly of up-tempo, danceable (which most of the crowd did), pop songs with a few mid-tempo ballads, also typical of boy bands. “Baby, It’s a Fact,” Hellogoodbye’s latest single resulting in an eruption of high-pitched screams of joy from the female audience. The song is a radio-ready pop hit about young love that doesn’t exactly have “soul-searching” lyrics. They ended their set with “Here, In Your Arms,” a dance song with a pumping synth drum beat: the biggest hit off their newest cd. When the concert was over and I walked out to where I had parked my car, I chuckled to myself seeing what I assumed were Hellogoodbye fans on their cell phones on the corner of the block. They were calling their parents to pick them up.
Official music video for Hellogoodbye - "Baby, It's Fact"
Music video for Cartel - "Lose It" (He is Nick Carter)
