Album Review: Boo Boos, Young Love

Boo Boos is comprised of E of Eels and Kate Mattison of 79.5, operating under the monikers Katie Boo and Bronco Boo. Eels of course are well-loved on these shores, while 79.5 are a Brooklyn-based band named after an imaginary radio station.

It was listening to KCRW radio late one night, that Eels main man E heard a song by 79.5, which he placed on a playlist he was making for Radio L’envie. That kickstarted a correspondence between the two artists. Late night radio and swapping songs is a quaint way of hooking up and that retro sensibility continues apace on Young Love, with debut single ‘C’mon Baby’ channelling 1970s soft rock and the great duet songs of Fleetwood Mac.

Second single ‘That’s Not A Thing’, meanwhile, reads like a correspondence between the pair of Boo Boos – E in his distinctive gravelly drawl, despite endless catastrophe, denies any chance of a break-up, and Mattison wholeheartedly agrees in a fine Loretta Lynn hue.

Elsewhere, ‘Chicken In A Molehill’ sees Mattison deliver a bewitching, country-infused multi-tracked vocal, although you suspect it’s E on wicked accompanying slide guitar. Indeed, E seems to be immensely enjoying himself throughout the record, stating as much on ‘Gal Pal’, where he sounds tremendously akin to the legendary Willie Nelson.

A side project well worth main billing.

8/10