Boy Genius

This impressive Brooklyn quartet is most often compared to REM and Pavement. On their debut album there’s plenty of the fire and frenzy of early REM and the unhinged, literate college rock of Pavement, but there’s much more.

There’s the buoyant romance and tender reflection of The Go-Betweens (especially the Bright Yellow Bright Orange album) on this debut; there’s the rich, reflective balladeering of the Butterflies of Love on the title track; and the passionate articulation of David Kilgour on No Beginning.

But for Anchorage’s raw bite and melodic charm, for its furious strumming and its jubilant trumpet, Boy Genius sound like they owe their greatest debt of gratitude to the June Brides. And that, as anyone who knows the June Brides, is a pretty good place to be coming from.

If you’re going to listen to them on myspace, I’d urge you to start at the bold harmonies and spiralling pop of Talk About Love (which, you know, might be a Raymond Carver reference, yet another point in their favour).