Paradise Boys

If you are cool enough to have already heard this album, then you are probably one of "The Young and The Guestlist" of the album’s title, hanging-out at one of the elite rock-dance spots in SF, NY or London, where several of the album’s tracks can be heard nightly.

But this disc packs more than just dance floor filler – the tracks progress from irresistible disco-punk like “Even if it Takes All Night,” to emotive Nick Drake meets minimal techno on “Summer of Love,” to dubbed out afro-funk on “Thunderbird” and even art-damaged punk anthems like “Riot Goin’ Off.” The result leaves you feeling that you’ve spent the last 47 minutes rocking-out to a mix tape made by a post-punk obsessed DJ, from the year 2020.

The Boys seem to incorporate a narrative element on the album as well; chronicling stages of the emotional arc in 24 hours of club life: from the dance floor to the after party, from the hotel lobby to the all too painful morning after. And they should know, as the band’s line-up reads like a who’s who of the San Francisco underground, including notorious DJs Jefrodisiac and Birdy P, collaborators like Techno innovator Jonah Sharp (Spacetime Continuum), Ghostly Records newest sighnee Broker/Dealer and even members of Sci-Fi dance squad The Vanishing.

Despite the frequent comparisons to bands like Ladytron and Franz Ferdinand, this record is not another backward-looking piece of 80's nostalgia, but something new. The Young and The Guestlist comes off as a seamless fusion of dance and rock and is rumored to have drawn the interest of musicians as diverse as Pharrell Williams and Brian Eno. Finding inspiration in Acid-House and Italo Disco, and combining it with the vital energy of early Factory and Rough Trade (less the gothic darkness and musical ineptitude that plagued these labels respectively), Paradise Boys have made a visceral, hedonistic record equally at home on a Milan runway as on a drive down the California coast.

-Juxtapoz - review

Imagine the Rapture without their guitars and collection of Big Star records, and you've got his electro-blooping, moonwalking disco-punk deli tray of a band. They may have "empty hearts [that] beat like the 808," but their retro-future runway jams are only half as shallow as their album's title suggests. - Jon Dolan

Taken From the SF Bay Guardian Local Live Section March 17 2004


Paradise Boys Record Release Party w/ Broker/Dealer, Jonah Sharp, and Safety Scissors; show review:

“FORGET THE METROSEXUAL . It's now the age of the electrosexual… Shortly after midnight, the Paradise Boys took the stage, and it was clear they were crowd favorites… What makes this more bearable than your average electro act is that (a) they're actually a real band, complete with drums, guitar, and trashy backup singer, and (b) their music references electronic dance culture more often than it does tired '80s standards…. Between the band's orgiastic moaning, manic guitar riffs, and tongue-in-cheek lyrical turns and the audience's dirty dancing and adoration, it was hard to tell who was getting their self-referential rocks off hardest. But it didn't matter. When you're young and you're on the guest list, life rules, and the Paradise Boys, unlike the bill's electronic acts, captured that heady sensation.” (Vivian Host)

For full article go to:
http://www.sfbg.com/38/26/x_local_live.html
- SF Bay Guardian

San Francisco's Paradise Boys weigh in with a stellar track and smoking remixes. The original is an electro/Italo piece with moody male vocals concerning nightclub maneuvers, while Broker/Dealer offer a driving techno affair that verges on electro-disco. Nikki Anderson and All the Way Lovers hurt a chunky acid line over a two-step groove for a heady mix for the hips that will be on your lips. - "Gonna Make You Mine" Review

From Lucky 13
Toph One's top 13 picks of the month.

1) Paradise Boys "Gonna Make You Mine"

Although my man Jefrodisiac and partner Bertie Pearson put this bad-ass little bitch out about six months ago, it's still most deserving of a review because a) it sounds like it came out in 1982; b) their latest, a cover of Jamie Principal/Frankie Knuckle's "Your Love," is boss; c) they fucking rule! Nor-Cal electro rock like you know you want it! Remixes by Blaktroniks, Broker/Dealer and Nikki Anderson. This month's cocktail winner. - "Gonna Make You Mine" Review

San Francisco's Paradise Boys present a first offering of unadulterated electro completely devoid of even the faintest hint of hometown grit. Like a Spanish cabana boy, the single "Gonna Make You Mine" is crisp, smooth, mildly petulant, adequately sleazy, and utterly irresistible on the dance floor, promising eternal nights at a disco where everyone looks great in white. ... More than any current single, "Gonna Make You Mine" conjures an innocent summer from my San Francisco childhood, when pre-pubescent girls could still sneak into the 18-plus clubs, and New Order, Gary Numan, Erasure, Soft Cell, and Talk Talk were loud enough to mask the palpitations of our racing hearts. The Paradise Boys support the Rapture on Tuesday, May 13, at the Great American Music Hall, with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and DJ Chris Orr opening at 8 p.m.

http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2003-05-07/tudor.html - SF Weekly

"Jeff Fare and the Paradise Boys may be S.F.'s best hope for electro-rock success."

"[The Young and the Guest List:] an album of party anthems that would prove once and for all that rock could be dance music... a visceral, hedonistic soundtrack to San Francisco club life, circa right now. "

By Dan Strachota
Please see bellow for full article, or go to
http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2004-01-28/music.html


- SFWeekly cover story

PARADISE BOYS
THE YOUNG AND THE GUESTLIST
PRINCEHOUSE
Just 11 songs into their career, Paradise Boys have proven to be one of indie rocks most exciting new acts. The Young and the Guestlist is eclectic, adventurous, fun and manages to seamlessly intergrate punk, dance, and electronics in an expert manner. Not adhering to conventional genre or subjet matter, the Boys offer up a smorgasbord of delectable indie-rock-erotic-dance-party-anthems, soon to be sing-along staples in hip bars and clubs across the country. Imagine the musical sensibilities of the Postal Service, infused with the rebelliousness of the Sex Pistols, the raw sexuality of Prince, and produced by The Neptunes and you will start ot understand how great this album is. MARK MY WORDS, Pardise Boys WILL usher in a new movement in underground music.



SKATE OR DIE - The Young and the Guest List album review

Kitty Magic Issue 10, 6/04
Paradise Boys
"Your Love/Gonna Make You Mine" 12"
(PrinceHouse)
Two electro-infused dance tracks from some San Francisco folks. The kids out West seem to have their electro-disco-punk hybrid down. (It's classier than the stuff from out East. I'm telling you, it's in the water.) The lovely people at PrinceHouse also blessed me with some vinyl, which I will play quite often. I can already see you dancing to the remix by Nikki. Let's just hope that the current state of car commercials doesn't intercept the groove. I give this two backspins, three Roger Rabbit's, two running men, and for the finale, the Robot.
--Ropstyle
- "Your Love/Gonna Make You" Mine Review

"We are two great tastes that taste great together"

The Paradise Boys are six fashionable, hip San Francisco
peeps that have become legendary for turning any show into an instant dance party. The buzz continues as some of the members used to play in The Calculators, with members of The Rapture. We got them to play our Saturday party and I managed to get one crazed interview out of them in the Green Room of Rothko.

Paradise Boys are: Jeff, Bertie, Liz, Lewis, Jimmy, Sasha, and Andrew

*Your traveled all the way from San Francisco just to play NYC or are you on a world tour?
Liz:We are on a bicoastal, crazy international tour.

Jeff: We have something to do every night. Thurday play a show, Friday Dj, Saturday play a show, Sunday Dj, Monday Dj on the radio.

*So what radio station are you playing on?
Jeff: WFMU, the college station


*You should also try and get on East Village Radio.
Jeff: Yeah, I've DJ’d on that show before.


*So when did the Paradise Boys form and how?
Bertie: Initially it was just Jeff and I. We met in Barcelona in the summer of 2001. The summer of Love. We both were living in Barcelona at the time and met through the music scene. We were both really into dance music and punk rock and saw each other at a lot of events. Jeff was djing out alot. I was just kind of hanging out for the summer. Soon we started hanging out and did some club nights together. Jeff would spin records and I would play live percussion. Then we started a musical project. It was just a recording project that we were going to do only for the summer. I was moving to Paris for school and Jeff had moved back to San Francisco. I was in Paris for a semester, but decided that music was more important than academics. So I returned to San Francisco and we started playing together. Liz then joined the band and started singing with us. We recorded an album, just the three of us and then Jimmy, Sasha, and Andrew joined the band as well. So now we have this enormous six-piece band.


*So you guys are really into dance music. Would you say that you are more of a dance band or a rock band?
All: Dance, rock, dance, rock, rock, Disco.

Jimmy: Half are into rock and the other half are into dance. We are two great tastes that taste great together.


*So what would you say some of your influences are?
Jeff: Silence is my number one influence.

Jimmy: I'm into The Rolling Stones, TRex, and glam rock.

Jeff: Sasha is into Erasure.

Sasha: I like gay, 80's fag style dance music. That is the kind of music that is my favorite.

Bertie: I listen to a lot of Latin American music. As well as some 70's stuff. (Bertie listed so many artists that I couldn't spell)


*Am I going to be able spell your influences correctly when I type this up?
Sasha: Just put Erasure in big black bold letters.

Bertie: Frankie Knuckles, Gang of Four, Au Pairs, Delta 5.

Jimmy: I don't really hear our sound as Beep Beep. It sounds more like later The Clash influenced with rock n' roll and with ska, rock steady dance beats behind it. I also really aline with Big Audio Dynamite.

Jeff: I like to talk about our sound and less about our influences. We all come from rock backgrounds. There is a lot of confines in rock n' roll about politics and specific stances. Once you graduate high school it seems a little annoying. You are backed into a corner of feeling a certain way and liking a certain sound. Dance music is totally devoid of that. You can make a song about being happy, joy, or the sun. We incorporate that into our music, but we also have a punk rock background that is never going to leave no matter what we make. Even if we make the happiest of songs.


*Do you think djing has helped shape your sound within your band?
Jeff: Yeah, it sort of formed the basis of the way I think about music.


*How many of you dj within the band?
Jeff: Mainly Bertie and I.


*So what is the scene like in San Francisco as far as club wise?
Jeff: It's crazy and off the hook. Way over the top. Everyone comes out when they know someone is doing something.


*What are some of the good club nights?
Sasha and Liz: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.


*What are some of the good clubs?
Jeff: Frisco Disco.

Sasha: Jeff does this night called Frisco Disco.

Jeff: Saturdays at Arrow Bar. There are a lot of nights that are popping up. There is a scene that is fueled by sex, drugs, rock n' roll, and techno. Pretty much if there is something going on people will be there.


*Is it predominately a gay scene or mixed?
Sasha: No, it's bunch of heterosexual hipsters going at it mixed along with the homosexual hipsters that go at it with the heterosexual hipsters.


*NYC seems to more segregated.
Sasha: The scene in San Francisco is pretty mixed. One big gangbang. Everyone loves each other, so everyone parties together. I don't think there is enough gay in th - Interview