the record

by 
AlbumMar 31 / 202312 songs, 42m 19s
Singer-Songwriter Indie Folk Indie Rock
Popular Highly Rated

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a description of boygenius that doesn’t contain the word “supergroup,” but it somehow doesn’t quite sit right. Blame decades of hoary prog-rock baggage, blame the misbegotten notion that bigger and more must be better, blame a culture that is rightfully circumspect about anything that feels like overpromising, blame Chickenfoot and Audioslave. But the sentiment certainly fits: Teaming three generational talents at the height of their powers on a project that is somehow more than the sum of its considerable parts sounds like it was dreamed up in a boardroom, but would never work if it had been. In fall 2018, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker released a self-titled six-song EP as boygenius that felt a bit like a lark—three of indie’s brightest, most charismatic artists at their loosest. Since then, each has released a career-peak album (*Punisher*, *Home Video*, and *Little Oblivions*, respectively) that transcended whatever indie means now and placed them in the pantheon of American songwriters, full stop. These parallel concurrent experiences raise the stakes of a kinship and a friendship; only the other two could truly understand what each was going through, only the other two could mount any true creative challenge or inspiration. Stepping away from their ascendant solo paths to commit to this so fully is as much a musical statement as it is one about how they want to use this lightning-in-a-bottle moment. If *boygenius* was a lark, *the record* is a flex. Opening track “Without You Without Them” features all three voices harmonizing a cappella and feels like a statement of intent. While Bridgers’ profile may be demonstrably higher than Dacus’ or Baker’s, no one is out in front here or taking up extra oxygen; this is a proper three-headed hydra. It doesn’t sound like any of their own albums but does sound like an album only the three of them could make. Hallmarks of each’s songwriting style abound: There’s the slow-building climactic refrain of “Not Strong Enough” (“Always an angel, never a god”) which recalls the high drama of Baker’s “Sour Breath” and “Turn Out the Lights.” On “Emily I’m Sorry,” “Revolution 0,” and “Letter to an Old Poet,” Bridgers delivers characteristically devastating lines in a hushed voice that belies its venom. Dacus draws “Leonard Cohen” so dense with detail in less than two minutes that you feel like you’re on the road trip with her and her closest friends, so lost in one another that you don’t mind missing your exit. As with the EP, most songs feature one of the three taking the lead, but *the record* is at its most fully realized when they play off each other, trading verses and ideas within the same song. The subdued, acoustic “Cool About It” offers three different takes on having to see an ex; “Not Strong Enough” is breezy power-pop that serves as a repudiation of Sheryl Crow’s confidence (“I’m not strong enough to be your man”). “Satanist” is the heaviest song on the album, sonically, if not emotionally; over a riff with solid Toadies “Possum Kingdom” vibes, Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus take turns singing the praises of satanism, anarchy, and nihilism, and it’s just fun. Despite a long tradition of high-wattage full-length star team-ups in pop history, there’s no real analogue for what boygenius pulls off here. The closest might be Crosby, Stills & Nash—the EP’s couchbound cover photo is a wink to their 1969 debut—but that name doesn’t exactly evoke feelings of friendship and fellowship more than 50 years later. (It does, however, evoke that time Bridgers called David Crosby a “little bitch” on Twitter after he chastised her for smashing her guitar on *SNL*.) Their genuine closeness is deeply relatable, but their chemistry and talent simply aren’t. It’s nearly impossible for a collaboration like this to not feel cynical or calculated or tossed off for laughs. If three established artists excelling at what they are great at, together, without sacrificing a single bit of themselves, were so easy to do, more would try.

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8.2 / 10

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus devote their debut record to their singular bond. Each amplifies the other’s songwriting, enriches the detail, and heightens the emotion.

7 / 10

Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers combine forces to create something relatable, timeless and beautiful — read the NME review

8 / 10

boygenius' debut album the record is here in all its poetic, cutting glory; and it’s been entirely worth the wait.

The intense collaboration and deep mutual admiration betweenJulien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus is plain in every song

8.0 / 10

In a surprise to no one, good things happen when 3 generational talents join forces to make an indie rock album.

Review: Boygenius' 'The Record'

Pure magic.

A story of unbreakable friendship and mutual respect.

Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker deliver and then some on their keenly anticipated debut album

On a debut album for the ages, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker hold each other up through the self-doubt of their twenties.

Such is the case of boygenius, the indie supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker.

Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker's new record as boygenius is everything a debut album should be: exploratory, explosive and full of heart.

8 / 10

When Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus first formed their supergroup in 2018, they were tired of being lumped together by labels...

In some ways, boygenius feel like the successor to the supergroups of yesteryear, the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and The Traveling Wilburys, but given a 21st-century update.

9.0 / 10

The first boygenius EP easily could have been a one-off affair. After being booked on the same bill, three of indie’s biggest rising singer/songwriters went in the studio to record one song but came out with six. It was the sort of lightning-in-a-bottle combination of timing and chemistry that rarely happens twice.

7 / 10

There’s something about calling your album ‘the record’ that feels satisfyingly on-brand for a supergroup who also named themselves boygenius. Both evoke

Read MOJO’s verdict on the new album from Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus’ supergroup, Boygenius.

The US indie-rock supergroup skewer the male ego on this magnificent meeting of harmonies and minds

On ‘The Record,’ Boygenius struggles to find a collective identity or creative method that complements the trio’s myriad talents.

8 / 10

Democratically curated and enthusiastic, Boygenius' 'The Record' is a testimony to friendship, the power of aesthetic commonality, and the magic of teamwork.

9.3 / 10

the record by Boygenius album review by Lucas Jones. The trio including Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker drops on March 31, 2023

80 %

Album Reviews: Boygenius - The Record

83 %

There’s always been some kind of special aura around boygenius. The trio of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus was forged off a throwaway “pipe dream” that Baker had, which then turned into a booking on the same tour and the decision to record a song together. One song became six, became the boygenius

4.0 / 5

Boygenius - the record review: Always an angel, never a god

The Senegalese singer delivers a sonic assault, The Zombies bring back prog-rock and female ‘supergroup’ Boygenius are certainly super

The band name started as a joke – each woman had less than positive experiences with arrogant male collaborators

Boygenius’ debut takes three generation-defining songwriters and forges an almighty collective. Review by Cheri Amour.

9 / 10