Michael Collins - The Boy Least Likely To (from ‘The Great Perhaps
Hard to believe it is already ten years since The Boy Least Likely To’s exquisite debut 7” ‘Papercuts’ dropped through my letterbox. In that time they’ve been tipped for greatness by Rolling Stone magazine, made a video with Karen Scarfolli (okay, okay, Rashida Jones if you insist) and been played on the radio by Terry Wogan (possibly my most surreal moment on a drive to school ever). Much easier to believe however was that their ‘The Great Perhaps’ set of this year was stuffed full of charming, disarming electro folk Pop of the highest calibre. The Boy Least Likely To make no apologies for pedalling the classic themes of Pop (love, loss, distance) and when they hit the spot (most of the time, it has to be said) they are right up there with the greatest hits of Magnetic Fields or anyone you care to mention. There is a great promo photo of Pete and Jof sitting on a sofa reading a copy of Smash Hits with Wham! on the cover. At their feet is a poster for Dexys’ ‘Geno’. That combination pretty much sums them up, and if you don’t dig the genius of that then man, get outta here...
There were highlights aplenty on this set: The synth/guitar interplay of ‘The Heart That Remembers Everything’ and the soft, sweet darkness of the haunting ’The Dreamer Song’ certainly stood out for me, whist the charming duet with The Pipettes’ Gwenno Saunders* (‘It Could’ve Been Me’) was a sprightly reflection on catching up with long-lost crushes years after the fact. But nowhere was the sense of twinkling, starlit melancholy captured better than on the magical ‘Michael Collins’. Using the Apollo 11 astronaut’s tale as a metaphor for loneliness, longing and the clarity of distance was a genius move. And if there was a better line than that one about “looking at old photographs and listening to Patsy Cline” all year then I certainly didn’t hear it.
*I know Gwenno wasnt in the group at the time, but did you know that one of the ridiculously rare Unpopular records Pipettes badges also starred in a Boy Least Likely To video? ‘Hugging My Grudge’ is the single, and 1.55 is the point to look for.
Comments