Boy Jr. – I Hate Getting Dumped!
Boy Jr., the musical alter-ego of Rochester native Ariel Allen-Lubman, is the kind of artist that doesn’t let the grass grow under their feet. Their latest six-track EP, I Hate Getting Dumped!, released July 25th, serves as the spiritual successor to last year’s full-length album, I Love Getting Dumped. It follows in the same synth-heavy electropunk vein, but as the title suggests, this outing is less bright, a little darker, and more serious. The dichotomy is impressive and obviously intentional; the two releases feel like siblings in spirit, a point underscored by their respective album covers. The vibrant birthday party scene of I Love is replaced by the darker, sepia-toned art for I Hate, which features Boy Jr. in a full fencing uniform, standing stoically beside a tablet-distracted angel. Is this new EP a collection of I Love Getting Dumped! B-sides or is it a deliberate continuation? Either way, it’s our album of the week.
This project puts Boy Jr.’s complete artistic control on full display. The album – notably written, performed, produced, mixed, mastered, and released by Allen-Lubman themself – is electropop of the highest degree. The sound is a potent cocktail of influences, blending the pop sensibilities of Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani with the guitar prowess and wacky fearlessness of St. Vincent, all filtered through a lens of modern internet culture and Boy Jr’s trademark wit. There’s an edginess here that will feel familiar to fans of Boy Jr’s releases over the past several years; it’s that very shock value that’s done well to separate the artistically restless musician from the proverbial pack.
The EP kicks off with a bold statement: a cover of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats.” Reimagined in Boy Jr.’s signature style, the country-pop anthem is transformed into an intense, industrial-tinged banger recalling the electro-alternative darkness of Nine Inch Nails. It’s a fitting introduction to the EP’s overall sound. The single “Stupid and Ugly” is dark pop at its best, where bass-forward verses give way to massive, soaring choruses. “Serial Limerence” follows with a more metallic and abstract texture, its robotic, vocoded verses and heavy synths creating a deliberately weird and mutated vibe reminiscent of MGMT’s Little Dark Age.
The EP’s excellent production is the anchor for its wild emotional swings and sharp, witty songwriting. On one end of the spectrum is “Anxious Attachment Avoidant Attachment,” an intentionally challenging listen that sheds its pop skin for a raw, neurotic performance. The song’s title is chanted in the chorus before releasing a “fuck, everything sucks” at the end. Then there’s “My Exes,” which feels like a direct callback to the brighter sound of I Love Getting Dumped!. It’s a busy, breakneck bop that races through a history of failed relationships before landing on a fun, exasperated solution in the chorus: “maybe you should all date each other.”
The EP closes with its most triumphant moment, “Zitty Stardust.” A celebration of transformation and genderfluidity, the song reclaims an insult hurled by an internet commenter and turns it into a badge of honor. In a brilliant, and frankly inspiring act of defiance, Boy Jr. built an anthem around the name they were meant to be belittled by, going as far as including a shoutout to the h8r in the track’s liner notes. Lyrics like “my friends all see the difference / my family is proud / it’s okay if you don’t get it” lead into the powerful chorus, “…and I’m becoming a person I’m in love with.” It’s a deeply personal and universally resonant statement of self-acceptance, a victorious finale that finds strength in vulnerability.
All told, I Hate Getting Dumped! solidifies Boy Jr.’s status as one of the hardest-working and most innovative musicians in Western New York. The humble beginnings of slinging counter-culture / indie rock TikToks have given way to a formidable artist who is starting to crest terminal velocity (and still knows their way around the internet). This EP is a sharp, hook-filled collection that not only goes hand-in-hand with the knock-out album that precedes it, but proves there’s as much power in the painful aftermath as there is in the party.
Categorised in: Album of the Week
This post was written by Ronald Walczyk