The strangely named Betty and The Boy are a quirky Eugene, Oregon based five piece that put me to the pin of my collar trying to define them. In the end, after a few listens to the album, I saw them as a mountainy band that got lost in the corridors of a long-closed theatre and reopened with a sort of Bertolt Brecht/Marat Sade feel to all the tunes; strange but gripping. All songs are written by original band members Bettreena Jaeger and Josh Harvey, with the other three in the gang providing the arrangements.
The songs and melodies are deep and sometimes dark but always telling stories while the instrumentation is strongly classical strings with just enough of an old timey edge to keep you hooked. The songs are a little samey in their delivery but somehow The Waltz and September Eight reached out to me and dragged me back for the necessary few listens that this album needs to really understand it.
Their imagery and style will appeal to the edgier side of the new acoustic fans and could well see them sitting in the same seats as The Handsome Family or the Be Good Tanyas. I’ve grown to like it and I think it’s worth the effort of a few listens to make an informed decision.