Vice and Daring showcases Boulevard in resplendent form. Yeah, that's a fancy word, and one full of shiny imagery and projection, but it is perhaps the best possible for this record. The sheen of the production values contained are as professional as any local record has ever been. Still, Athens' Boulevard succeeds where many bands fail by actually having great songs to display via such methods, rather than attempting to polish a turd.

For all practical purposes, Boulevard is a band of unabashed anglophiles. They're beholden artistically to the musical lineage of David Bowie and Roxy Music, yet nothing about the music sounds as if they're merely lifting licks and postures. "So Electric" carries itself by way of flange-driven guitars and an infectious chorus reminiscent of The Undertones. "Marie" sounds very much like what could be an old outtake from a Suede album if that band actually had some balls rather than just a make-up kit. "Dreams of Home" is slightly darker with its synthesized intro and spaghetti-western-on-lithium guitar interlude. It's a perfect track for a late-night drive.

The band reaches deep into the pop continuum on "Disarray" which features a great choppy guitar (a technique that hasn't been used in a good way since the heyday of the Elephant 6) and a chorus worthy of any number of 1970s teen idol bands (Bay City Rollers, Partridge Family, etc.).

Vice and Daring is an ambitious release from a band that has never been short on ambition. It's proof that these guys have known all along exactly what they were doing.
Gordon Lamb - Flagpole Magazine, Athens, Georgia

"Proving that innovation doesn't have to be boring or soulless, Boulevard is a fine example of a band succeeding on pure guts and audacity."
Performer Magazine

"Boulevard are content but pushing themselves and their boundaries on each track, nailing "Dreams of Home" and a sweeping "Hand in Hand" that bring to mind classic, majestic Suede numbers or current efforts from the Tears."
Allmusic.com (AMG)

"Simply put, Boulevard doesn't sound like a band that just released its first EP in 2004, and Vice and Daring doesn't sound like a sophomore effort. Boulevard consistently reminds listeners that rock music should be fun, kinetic and larger than life."
Southeast Performer Magazine

"The band's standout tracks include "Marie" and "Dreams of Home." The strength of these tracks is in their melodies, skilled playing and contagious effervescence."
Technique

Produced and engineered by Nathan Rudolf in Athens, GA. Mastering by Jeff Capurso at Chase Park Transduction. Musicians: Benji Barton (voice, guitar); Donovan Babb (drums); Robert Caruthers (guitars, vocal); Stephen James (synths, samples, bells); Holden Spaht (bass). Guest musicians: The Magnolia String Quartet on track 3 (Qiao Chen Solomon - violin, Kelly Solms - violin, Marta Blalock - viola, Bo Yum - cello).

1. So Electric
2. Marie
3. Dreams of Home
4. Disarray
5. Possibly the Last
6. Hand in Hand
7. Only For You
8. Urgency
9. The Lines Between Us
10. Street Starlet

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 2/21/2013
Boulevard lives in Georgia USA

Tagged as: Alt Rock, Pop

1. Music of Fernando Sor by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
2. A Lestampida by Dufay Collective: instrumental and vocal music from the Middle Ages and Reniassance
3. Brave New World by Sterling: sublime and ethereal electronic music
4. Cifras Selectas de Guitarra, Santiago de Murcia 1722 by Eduardo Figueroa and Oscar Ohlsen: Chilean baroque guitar duo
5. 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime by Steve Eulberg: smile-inducing, toe-tapping folkgrass
6. Cry Wolf by Ehren Starks: piano and cello/jazzy new age
7. Two Romantic Piano Trios by Women Composers by Streicher Trio: classical chamber music on period instruments
8. Scenes of Travel by Eleanor Hodgkinson: beautifully crafted individual playing
9. Switch On - Switch Off by Strojovna 07: techno.
10. The Time Is Now by Electric Frankenstein: high energy punk rock & roll
11. Burgundy Rhymes by Suchitra Lata: Swirling Chillout, Ambient, World, Progressive Pop, Indian classical veena and much more in between
12. Reminiscence by Emiel Stopler: Filmic composer and acoustic fingerstyle guitarist
13. Mobius Strip by Suchitra Lata: Swirling Chillout, Ambient, World, Progressive Pop, Indian classical veena and much more in between
14. The Stuff of Fairy Tales by Emma Wallace: angst-free modern ragtime
15. The Vision Of Enoch by Sulis: heavenly, healing, early music
16. A Reason to Stay Up all Night by Emma Wallace: angst-free modern ragtime
17. Sundowner by Sundowner: shape-shifting space rock sound of vast drifting guitar-scapes
18. Formantine by Emmalee Crane: ambient, orchestral drone music
19. Among the Lasses, songs of Robert Burns (1759-1796) by Susan Rode Morris: early music delivered with a voluptuous voice and intensely focused delivery
20. Smoke Through It by Endless Blue: Trashy Beats, Melancholy Keys, Sultry Vocals

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