The Boyfriends

The Boyfriends are: Martin Wallace (vocals), Richard Adderley (guitar), David Barnett (bass) and Paddy Pulzer (drums).

Martin Wallace’s life changed forever when, at the age of thirteen, he saw Suede play “Metal Mickey” on Top Of The Pops: “I was brought up in a tiny little village called Whyteleafe, near Purley,” he sighs. “Very leafy and boring. And then, one evening this group appeared on the television and I was besotted in an instant. They just seemed so exotic and suggested so many new possibilities and that was the first time I realised the power that pop music had. I sincerely believe that pop music still has the power to change people’s lives.”

Fast Forward to 25th February 1999, when the now London-based Martin and his friend Richard Adderley wrote their first two songs together after Martin had been invited to contribute to a series of one-off singles on a new independent record label. Unfortunately, the label had folded by the time they handed in the demos but the pair continued working on songs together at a slow but steady rate over the following couple of years. Early in 2002 they enlisted friends David Barnett and Paddy Pulzer with a view to forming a group to perform the songs they were writing.

A series of sporadic and experimental rehearsals began but it wasn't until the autumn 02 that the rehearsals became more regular and the group began to stumble across a signature style, containing elements of both New Wave abrasiveness and classic, anthemnic pop. It was with the arrival of their name (chosen "because we are all such good boyfriend material” remarks Martin) early in 2003 that the group began to develop an identity. Their first show, on June 6th 2003, was an almost sold-out appearance at the Bull And Gate, the day before Martin's 24th birthday. To Richard's delight, it was attended by Jim Reid from The Jesus And Mary Chain, who professed The Boyfriends to be "quite good".

By the winter of 2004, all this had evolved into a something truly distinctive, with the band seeming to become a classically English, warmly emotional but noisy guitar group. And 2005 has seen the band rise firmly to the next level: they’ve released two of their demos on an acclaimed split EP with The Long Blondes, had a demo featured on recent indie compilation series Downloaded, another on the second Angular Records compilation; and they recorded a session for John Kennedy’s Xfm’s X-posure show, even enjoying an entire live set broadcast on the same show. To top it all, in June their demo of ‘Speak Less and Listen’ was played three times by three separate Radio 1 DJs over consecutive nights: Rob Da Bank, Huw Stevens and Steve Lamacq.

Things shifted up another notch at the end of June. It all started when NME declared The Boyfriends #29 in a list of the 50 essential bands to catch that summer. Then they hit the headlines and made history by being the first band ever to play the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury – in apocalyptic conditions. Says Martin: “It was an honour – in fact we were the first group to play at all – and no small achievement to do so without serious personal injury, given that we were playing in the middle of an electrical storm and water was dripping from the roof of the tent onto the stage.” The appearance was subsequently broadcast on BBC 2, 3 and 4, with critical praise appearing afterwards in both The Independent (see above quote) and NME, as well as an airing of set-closer ‘There Is Always Hope’ by Huw Stevens. In fact it was Huw who got them signed to Cardiff-based indie Boobytrap Records.

And the acclaim continues: Xfm’s Lauren Laverne mentioned the band in a published list of her ten favourite new bands, Simon Amstell tipped them as a new band to look out for on Channel 4’s Popworld, and their live shows have been attended by members of Suede, Radiohead and The Futureheads. They’ve also been featured as the lead band in an Underground London issue of Boyz magazine, supported The Hidden Cameras, played successful concerts in Germany and Finland, and been a strongly supported presence on London's live music scene, with dates all over town from Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club to The Windmill in Brixton.

Visually, the band have been likened (by Playlouder.com) to sexually ambivalent East End ruffians, while Artrocker.com dubbed them “a real fearsome looking crew who give the air of being happier on the terraces than singing tender love songs”. Lyrically, they mingle aggression and romanticism with extreme optimism to create a sound described by joyzine.co.uk as “violently hopeful”. Musically, The Boyfriends can be dark but are always ultimately uplifting. Their song 'No Tomorrow' was described by Xfm’s John Kennedy as "an anthem for a new generation".

The website has been a cult success in itself since its launch in early 2004, receiving well over 50,000 visitors from all over the world. This has also helped their music gain airplay everywhere from Radio 1 in the UK to RDU in New Zealand, and been spun by DJs from the Queens Of Noize at the Barfly in Camden to Dior’s Hedi Slimane at Mis-Shapes in New York.

And The Boyfriends finally release their debut single ‘I Love You’ on Feb 13 through Boobytrap. A right noisy racket driven by a supersize-me guitar riff, an old fashioned tune and heartfelt vocal from lead singer Martin Wallace, it’s coupled with lovely b-side ‘Remember’, which may seem bright and breezy on the surface, but scratch a bit deeper and feel the regret.

“I really do think that I Love You is the most important British pop record for years,” concludes Martin, “because it says something that too many people are afraid to say, in a way that they’re too afraid to say it.”

Gulp.

The debut album will follow in mid-2006.