The Boy Least Likely To Law of the Playground Rating: 6.8 Label: Rough Trade Release: March 3rd, 2009

Were you into Transformers as a kid? How about GI Joe, Spiderman, Batman, the Incredible Hulk, Speed Racer, X-Men or The Dukes of Hazard? Whatever you liked as a child, it’s pretty much guaranteed that a remake was made or will be made in the near future. Even though the special effects got better, the characters are the same and the story hasn’t changed. It’s everything you remembered it to be. It’s childhood evolved. The Boy Least Likely To’s The Law of the Playground follows the same recipe.

Luckily for Jof Owen and Pete Hobbs, they were able to create a successful remake. Those that fail often do so in fear. The creator worries that by changing the original recipe too much they’ll lose fan interest. “Saddle Up” starts the record off right. After hearing it initially I worried that BLLT would fall into the same trap. It sounds like it could be a b-side from 2005’s The Best Party Ever. However, Jof assuaged my fears 1:33 into the song with his lyric, “there’s a big scary world out there just waiting for me and it’s time for us to saddle up.” Here we go.

Jof Owen and Pete Hobbs are armed with the same weapons they used to create 2005’s The Best Party Ever. Pete’s distinctly adolescent music (in spirit, not ability) continues to be the perfect compliment to Jof’s primarily morose lyrics. The glockenspiel’s still there and so is the banjo, but the production is much better this time around. Some of the songs have become more complex while still being distinctly BLLT’s. The highlights can be found on A Balloon On A Broken String, Whiskers, The Worm Forgives The Plough and A Fairytale Ending.

Much like the movie remakes, the plot leaves something to be desired. The subject matter of The Law of the Playground is exactly the same as The Best Party Ever. It continues to focus on the rollercoaster ride that it is life while using boys, toys and bugs as metaphors. No offense to Jof, it still must require an immense amount of creativity to continue to come up with the lyrics, but the band has dug itself into a hole. The dreaded niche hole. Their sound and their words are becoming one dimensional, while success in the music industry requires many.

I found this album to be a nice addition to their portfolio. The Best Party Ever never got the treatment it deserved. Initially released independently, it took a lot of work and effort on the band members part to garner interest amongst the community. Now that people know who they are, I hope The Law of the Playground can firmly plant their tree of glass-half-full music. The world needs more of that. Once rooted, I hope the guys in BLLT muster up enough confidence to spread their wings. Right now they’re playing festivals and headlining shows. The talent is obviously there. However, I worry if they continue down the road they’re on their talent will be wasted during afternoon storytelling sessions at the local library.

Written by: Jonathan Martin on April 21st, 2009 | Filed under Music Reviews