Boys & Girls (album)

Last updated
Boys & Girls
Boys&Girls.jpg
Studio album by
Alabama Shakes
ReleasedApril 9, 2012 (2012-04-09)
Recorded2011
StudioThe Bomb Shelter
(Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre
Length36:12
Label ATO
Producer
Alabama Shakes chronology
Alabama Shakes
(2011)		Boys & Girls
(2012)		 Sound & Color
(2015)
Singles from Boys & Girls
  1. "Hold On"
    Released: February 6, 2012

Boys & Girls is the debut studio album from American band Alabama Shakes. It was released on April 9, 2012, through ATO Records. The album peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 and number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. A tenth anniversary deluxe edition was released on December 9, 2022, including a bonus disc of the band's live performance at KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic . [1]

Contents

Composition

With Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes craft a musical fusion of blues and rock 'n' roll. [2] It also has roots in Southern soul, [3] yielding a "raw, grainy" take on the style. [4] The album also draws from hard rock and punk, working them alongside the band's "rootsy, passionate appeal". [5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic? 7.0/10 [6]
Metacritic 76/100 [7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The A.V. Club B− [8]
The Daily Telegraph Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [11]
NME 7/10 [12]
Pitchfork 7.8/10 [13]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Spin 7/10 [15]

The album has been well received by critics. Gavin Haynes of NME gave Boys & Girls a positive review, stating, "In many ways Boys & Girls it is as note-perfect an album as you'll hear all year, yet it's also often perfectly inert. Their new bestie Jack White flagrantly copied vast chunks of the past, but in so doing he also stripped it down and rebuilt it in his own image. Despite their obviously vast talent, still less than a year after they first read about themselves on the internet, the stellar rise and rise of Alabama Shakes possibly hasn't afforded them quite enough time to find out who they really are." [12] Los Angeles Times also gave the album a positive review stating, "The Alabama Shakes’ first album, "Boys & Girls," is an electric jolt that anyone who loves blues-based rock music should track down immediately. Consisting of three men and one young explosion named Brittany Howard on vocals and guitar, the group, which formed in northern Alabama in 2009, offers stripped down truth, minus any affectation, histrionics or irony." [11]

The album was listed at #34 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2012. [16]

Commercial performance

Boys & Girls debuted at number sixteen on the US Billboard 200. The album reached its peak at number six with 33,000 copies sold that week. [17] As of April 2015, the album has sold 744,000 copies in the US. [18]

On April 12, 2012 the album entered the Irish Albums Chart at number thirteen. [19] The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number three, [20] and also topped the inaugural Official Record Store Chart. [21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alabama Shakes

No.TitleLength
1."Hold On"3:46
2."I Found You"2:59
3."Hang Loose"2:24
4."Rise to the Sun"3:08
5."You Ain't Alone"4:44
6."Goin' to the Party"1:45
7."Heartbreaker"3:47
8."Boys & Girls"3:25
9."Be Mine"4:14
10."I Ain't the Same"2:55
11."On Your Way"3:05
Total length:36:19
Platinum Edition bonus 7-inch vinyl [22]
No.TitleLength
12."Heavy Chevy"2:25
13."Pocket Change"2:25
14."Mama"1:34
Total length:42:43
Spotify edition [23]
No.TitleLength
12."Pocket Change"2:25
13."Heavy Chevy"2:25
Total length:41:09
Deluxe edition disc 1 bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Heavy Chevy"2:25
Total length:45:08
Deluxe edition disc 2 (live at KCRW)
No.TitleLength
1."Hang Loose"2:20
2."I Found You"3:22
3."Be Mine"4:05
4."I Ain't the Same"3:19
5."Mama"1:32
6."Goin' to the Party"1:50
7."Hold On"3:53
8."Boys & Girls"3:48
9."Always Alright"3:48
10."Rise to the Sun"3:07
11."Heavy Chevy"2:40
Total length:33:44

Personnel

Alabama Shakes:

Additional musicians:

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [51] Platinum80,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [52] Gold128,266 [53]
United States (RIAA) [54] Platinum1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

CountryRelease dateFormatLabel
United States 3 April 2012 [55] Download ATO Records
United Kingdom 6 April 2012 [56] Rough Trade Records
9 April 2012 [57] CD
United States 10 April 2012 [58] ATO Records

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References

  1. ↑ Strauss, Matthew (October 26, 2022). "Alabama Shakes Announce 10th Anniversary Reissue of Debut Album Boys & Girls". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  2. ↑ Jonathan Kosakow (April 8, 2012). "Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls | PopMatters". PopMatters . Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Boys & Girls – Alabama Shakes". AllMusic . Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Gill, Andy (April 11, 2012). "Album: Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls (Rough Trade)". The Independent . Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  5. ↑ Eli Bernstein (April 10, 2012). "Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls - Paste". Paste . Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes reviews". AnyDecentMusic? . Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Reviews for Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes". Metacritic . Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  8. ↑ Greenwald, David (April 10, 2012). "Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls". The A.V. Club . Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  9. ↑ Brown, Helen (April 5, 2012). "Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls, CD review". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  10. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (April 5, 2012). "Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls – review". The Guardian . Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  11. 1 2 Roberts, Randall (April 10, 2012). "Album review: The Alabama Shakes' 'Boys & Girls'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  12. 1 2 Haynes, Gavin (April 5, 2012). "Alabama Shakes – 'Boys & Girls'". NME . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
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  14. ↑ Dolan, Jon (April 10, 2012). "Boys & Girls". Rolling Stone . Retrieved June 24, 2013.
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  18. ↑ Keith Claufield (April 29, 2015). "Alabama Shakes Scores Its First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard . (Prometheus Global Media). Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Irish Albums Chart > Archive > Week Ending: April 12, 2012". GFK. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Archive Chart". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  21. 1 2 Kreisler, Laura (20 April 2012). "Official Record Store Chart Top 40 unveiled!". London: Official Charts Company . Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  22. ↑ "BOYS & GIRLS PLATINUM ANNIVERSARY VINYL REISSUE!". alabamashakes.com. July 13, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
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  51. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls". Music Canada.
  52. ↑ "British album certifications – Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls". British Phonographic Industry.
  53. ↑ "Official Charts Analysis Josh Groban Scores first No 1 with 20,092 sales" . Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  54. ↑ "American album certifications – Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls". Recording Industry Association of America.
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