Ears Wide Open: Girlyboi

Kevin Bronson on August 10th, 2017

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Girlyboi (Photo by Lauren Withrow Photography)

Girlyboi are photogenic. The duo of Joseph Matick and Carly Russ formed their romantic and musical partnership in their native Chicago, before spending time in Paris and London, where they were embraced by the fashion world. And while a lot of those fashion-first magazine spreads might trigger a reflex to dismiss Girlyboi as style over substance, it would be a mistake to file the Midwsterners, now based in Los Angeles, as just a couple of interesting faces. Their musical explorations — on two EPs, 2015’s “Actual Woman” and 2016’s “Good Looks” — have spanned folk and pop and dreamy, moody places in between. To varying degrees, their songs exude the tension and electricity typical of two people who are both romantic and professional partners. The new song “Bonfire” is an up-tempo rocker and the first single from their forthcoming full-length album, which was recorded in L.A. at Palomino Sound with Jason Soda (Everest, GospelbeacH) and Eric Hoegemeyer, with contributions from guitarist Alex Winkler and cameos from keyboardist Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket), among others.

||| Stream: “Bonfire’