Day Jobs is the debut album from Trophy Lungs out today. Released on local label Antique Records, it serves as a powerful addition to the Boston punk scene. While there’s been plenty of scrappy, street punk bands that emerged from Kenmore Square’s Rat (RIP, you filthy beast), there hasn’t been much in the way of poppy, snotty punk. Trophy Lungs deliver the sound of being recorded with a back pocket flask maintaining their momentum. It hits a sonic sweet spot like a glowing buzz—lips get loose and you mention things that people might not otherwise want to talk about.
Like many good punk bands preceding them, the Trophy Lungs share vocal duties—giving depth to their gripes and camaraderie. The shared rage of Boston’s classist neighborhoods comes through on “Tough Calls in Inman Square.” Kevin Bogart and Kelly McGuire shout, “I can’t stop thinking how fucking cold it is in this town. I know that it’s not what I deserve, it’s how much I can afford.” It’s at this track that I realize how Boston this record really is. This city is in transition, growing rapidly with condos and then some more condos. Extreme wealth and classism are abundant. We even bid for the Olympics to be here, for fuck’s sake. Day Jobs is not only pissed at bad jobs, but it’s calling out the skewed scales of Boston.
If you don’t want to think about that angle, you’re a lazy turd, but also—you can enjoy this for its skatepunk mastery, it’s a damn good album. This trio’s debut has been a long time coming, but worth the wait. The sound quality is a sonic blast, with just the right amount of choppy pedals and immediacy to make this a contemporary Boston gem. So stop saying our best band is Aerosmith. Below is a new video from Day Jobs that they’ve created for the track “Bathroom Graffiti,” a reflective gem dedicated to lost friends.
