They’re not the boys from Oz!
The Brooklyn surf rock band Boytoy will launch its second album with a party at Bushwick’s Secret Project Robot on April 27. But those looking for background on the all-girl group from Kings County may get confused — its official website is minimal, and its Bandcamp page from 2014 claims the band is from Tasmania.
“For some reason, when we started our Bandcamp page our origin came up as Australia — and we couldn’t figure out how to change it,” said singer and guitarist Saara Untracht-Oakner, who lives in Bushwick.
Boytoy toured with legendary Aussie band Midnight Oil in 2017, but that is its only connection Down Under, she said.
But there is nothing confusing about Boytoy’s music. The band churns out exciting, catchy tunes, and it draws equally from punk’s stripped-down energy and classic pop, said its singer.
“I’ve always really appreciated a good, solid pop song,” says Untracht-Oakner. “But we’re a rock and roll band.”
Untracht-Oakner started the group in 2012 with guitarist Glenn Van Dyke, and after some lineup changes, Boytoy coalesced around those two, drummer Chase Noelle, and bassist Lena Simon.
The band’s early work has strong appeal — check out 2014’s “Shallow Town” for proof — but its latest album, “Night Leaf,” showcases a much more assured, confident, and relaxed band. The confidence, Untracht-Oakner says “comes from just growing together as a band.”
And the relaxed vibe of Boytoy’s new music might be a product of the bohemian enclave outside Santa Monica where the record was made.
“We recorded ‘Night Leaf’ in Topanga Canyon,” Untracht-Oakner says. “We’d surf in the morning and then record on this ranch with animals all around.”
Working with producer Kyle Mullarkey helped to give the album a new sound, she said.
“It was cool to come in with a bunch of songs as sort of finished products, but then completely change and rearrange them,” Untracht-Oakner recalled.
And at the launch party for “Night Life” this weekend, do not look for the album on compact disc — it is only available digitally and on vinyl.
“Vinyl is the ultimate,” says Untracht-Oakner. “It feels the most real and the most immortal.”
Boytoy with Metalleg and the Muckers at Secret Project Robot (1186 Broadway between Lafayette Avenue and Van Buren Street in Bushwick, www.secre
