Boys and Girls in America
Encyclopedia
Boys and Girls in America is the third studio album by The Hold Steady
, released on October 3, 2006 by Vagrant Records
.
On August 18, 2006, first single "Chips Ahoy!" was released as a free download from music site Pitchfork Media
. The second single, "Stuck Between Stations" began to appear on campus radio
playlists in November 2006.
Backing vocals for the track "Chillout Tent" are provided by Soul Asylum's
Dave Pirner
and The Reputation
's Elizabeth Elmore
. Dana Kletter
(ex-Blackgirls, Dear Enemy, and Hole
's Live Through This
) contributed backing vocals to "Chips Ahoy!", "You Can Make Him Like You", and "First Night".
The album title is a line taken from the opening lines of the song "Stuck Between Stations" ("There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise
was right/Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together"), which in turn refers to a quote from American
novel
ist and poet
Jack Kerouac
's 1957 novel On the Road
and its narrator, Sal Paradise. The title is repeated in the lyrics in the songs "Stuck Between Stations" and "First Night."
Boys and Girls in America has sold 94,000 albums as of April 2010.
, making it tied with four other albums for the 12th best-reviewed album of 2006. Magnet
and The Onion's AV Club
named it the best album of 2006.
Pitchfork Media
rated Boys and Girls in America 9.4 out of 10, and named it the fifth-best album of the year. They later ranked it as the 64th best album of the decade.
Yahoo! Music ranked the album #9 on their list of the top 25 albums of 2006.
The song "Stuck Between Stations" was ranked #11 on Pitchfork's list of the top 100 songs of 2006 and #63 on the best of 2000's list.
"Chillout Tent" was ranked #33 in Rolling Stone
s list of 100 best songs of 2006.
The song "Massive Nights" was always used at the Beginning of Colin Murray's Radio 1 Show, after the worlds, "New music, Alternative Classics, Drums" due to the drum roll introduction to the song.
.
The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2004. The band consists of Craig Finn , Tad Kubler , Galen Polivka , Bobby Drake , and Steve Selvidge...
, released on October 3, 2006 by Vagrant Records
Vagrant Records
Vagrant Records is an indie rock label based in Los Angeles, California and is home to such artists as The Hold Steady, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Active Child, PJ Harvey, Reptar, School of Seven Bells, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Thrice, James Vincent McMorrow, Placebo, and many...
.
On August 18, 2006, first single "Chips Ahoy!" was released as a free download from music site Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
. The second single, "Stuck Between Stations" began to appear on campus radio
Campus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
playlists in November 2006.
Backing vocals for the track "Chillout Tent" are provided by Soul Asylum's
Soul Asylum
Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1983.The band originally formed in 1981 under the name Loud Fast Rules, with the original line-up consisting of Dan Murphy, Dave Pirner, Karl Mueller and Pat Morley. The latter was replaced by Grant Young in...
Dave Pirner
Dave Pirner
David Anthony "Dave" Pirner is an American songwriter, singer, and producer best known for being the lead vocalist and frontman for the alternative rock/grunge band, Soul Asylum.-Biography:...
and The Reputation
The Reputation
The Reputation were an indie rock band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was fronted by former Sarge singer-songwriter Elizabeth Elmore, with other positions filled by various members....
's Elizabeth Elmore
Elizabeth Elmore
Elizabeth Elmore is an American singer/songwriter, recently with the rock bands The Reputation and Sarge.Elmore formed Sarge in 1996, and the band broke up in 1999...
. Dana Kletter
Dana Kletter
Dana Kletter is an American musician and writer.Kletter and her twin sister Karen were born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in New York. Dana began playing piano at age four. She attended American University in Washington, DC where she studied piano with Alan Mandel...
(ex-Blackgirls, Dear Enemy, and Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
's Live Through This
Live Through This
Live Through This is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. It was released by Geffen Records on April 12, 1994, just four days after frontwoman Courtney Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, was found dead in their home....
) contributed backing vocals to "Chips Ahoy!", "You Can Make Him Like You", and "First Night".
The album title is a line taken from the opening lines of the song "Stuck Between Stations" ("There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise
Sal Paradise
Salvatore “Sal” Paradise is the narrator and the protagonist in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. Sal, an Italian American youth living in New Jersey with his aunt, is an uninspired writer working on a book who follows and accompanies Dean Moriarty, a young and reckless Denver vagrant, on his...
was right/Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together"), which in turn refers to a quote from American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
's 1957 novel On the Road
On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
and its narrator, Sal Paradise. The title is repeated in the lyrics in the songs "Stuck Between Stations" and "First Night."
Boys and Girls in America has sold 94,000 albums as of April 2010.
Critical reception
The album received a metascore of 85 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, making it tied with four other albums for the 12th best-reviewed album of 2006. Magnet
Magnet (magazine)
Magnet is a music magazine which generally focuses on alternative, independent, or out-of-the-mainstream bands.-History:The magazine is published four times a year, and is independently owned and edited by Eric T. Miller. Music magazines with a similar focus in the 1990s era included Option,...
and The Onion's AV Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
named it the best album of 2006.
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
rated Boys and Girls in America 9.4 out of 10, and named it the fifth-best album of the year. They later ranked it as the 64th best album of the decade.
Yahoo! Music ranked the album #9 on their list of the top 25 albums of 2006.
The song "Stuck Between Stations" was ranked #11 on Pitchfork's list of the top 100 songs of 2006 and #63 on the best of 2000's list.
"Chillout Tent" was ranked #33 in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s list of 100 best songs of 2006.
The song "Massive Nights" was always used at the Beginning of Colin Murray's Radio 1 Show, after the worlds, "New music, Alternative Classics, Drums" due to the drum roll introduction to the song.
Other versions
The song "Girls Like Status" was featured on the album Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the SoundtrackAqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack is a soundtrack album for the movie Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, and was released on April 10, 2007. It features many previously unreleased songs, some recorded for the purpose of this album...
.
Track listing
- "Stuck Between Stations" - 4:10
- "Chips Ahoy!" - 3:09
- "Hot Soft Light" - 3:53
- "Same Kooks" - 2:47
- "First Night" - 4:54
- "Party Pit" - 3:56
- "You Can Make Him Like You" - 2:48
- "Massive Nights" - 2:54
- "Citrus" - 2:44
- "Chillout Tent" - 3:42
- "Southtown Girls" - 5:10
Bonus tracks on Japanese edition
- "Against the WindAgainst the Wind (Bob Seger song)"Against the Wind" is the title of a song by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band from the 1980 album Against the Wind. "Against the Wind" was the highest ranking single from the album, peaking at #5...
" (Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band Cover) - 5:17 - "Stuck Between Stations" (Acoustic) - 4:13
Bonus tracks on Australian edition
- "For Boston" - 3:17
- "Girls Like Status" - 3:08
- "Arms and Hearts" - 3:51
- "American Music" (Violent FemmesViolent FemmesViolent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
cover) - 3:47
Bonus tracks on U.S. iTunes edition
- "Girls Like Status" - 3:08
- "Arms and Hearts" - 3:51