Boys Like Girls

Its super-emo title aside, the Boys' second album finds them stretching their wings beyond their genre. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the duet with Taylor Swift, of all people. Both "Two Is Better Than One" and "Someone Like You" (which is a waltz, for the love of Tennessee!) are emotional, dramatic and richly sung. So ... kinda like emo. Whether it's about new connections or varying degrees of experimentation ("Contagious," for instance, tries on a super-cute, mall-punk angle), the unexpected is perfectly balanced with plenty of the rock angst we like the Boys for.

The second album from these gold-selling Boston guys is as arena-ready as any record
you'll hear all year, augmenting Martin Johnson's yearning vocals with gratuitous gloss from
hitmaking producers S*A*M and Sluggo. Love Drunk piles on the heart-baring cheese-outs —
"Two Is Better Than One" (with Taylor Swift) sounds like a stripped-down version of a
Nineties Aerosmith ballad — and brassy rockers like "Real Thing" crib power cho... More >