It's been what, three years since The Boy Least Likely To threw The Best Party Ever? I can just imagine the pencil shavings forgotten on the floor of a summer classroom; the Warm Panda Cola's gone flat and the paper cuts have healed. Luckily, our boys Pete Hobbs and Jof Owen are still caught in a childhood regression, a couple of neurotics hung up on boogie monsters and crayon stains. I'm sure Freud could get to the bottom of it, but then we would all be denied the band's demented banjo-and-xylophone romps and "Country Disco" experiments.
    

"Balloon on a Broken String" doesn't present much of a deviation from the Boy Least Likely To's debut. The disco drums still provide a slick ground for xylophones, Owen's wispy vocals, and a parade of "shoo-be-do's." The song still takes place in the world of Tom Sawyer where grownups bumble and brag like children and kids try too hard to be adults. Owen sings from the perspective of a balloon floating around outside, going wherever it pleases. His confidence soon wanes, though, and he sighs, "I try to be cheerful/ But I can feel myself deflating all the time." In short, "Balloon" deals with the band's usual themes of attachment and giddy freedom turned sour.        
    

Perhaps the music is muddier than usual. The guitar and bass chug a bit harder and the synth is more invasive. Actually, "Balloon" sounds uncannily like a Cars song, which certainly isn't something to complain about. The band's other new song, called "The Boy Least Likely to is a Machine," is also a bit darker. The processed vocals, stomping drums, and prominent base make the song read like a modern day "Iron Man." Of course, the banjos and bells are still there, beside a really satisfying, wobbly synth. Hobbs and Owen certainly know how to please with their tunes, however ironic their sophomoric instrumentation.    

Speaking of which, the sophomore album of The Boy Least Likely To is marked vaguely for a summer release. Mark your assignment notebooks.