We love The Boxing Lesson ’round these parts. Basically, they are awesome musicians and awesome people, so we cover everything that they do because it pretty much always kicks ass. (Plus our first post ever was an exclusive interview with them!) Upcoming single “Health is the New Drug” is no exception. The Boxing Lesson are planning to release a new full-length in March this year (coinciding with SXSW? Like the release of their 2008 Wild Streaks and Windy Days did?), and are preceding it with a 7″ vinyl release on February 14th (Valentine’s Day) of the single “Health is the New Drug” b/w “Better Daze.”
The Boxing Lesson - 'Health is the New Drug'This new single seems to fuse together all of the previous elements of the Boxing Lesson. 2011 saw the release of the Muerta EP, which was trippy space rock that let the band stretch out a bit. Prior to that, however, they were more straightforward rockers with songs like “Back From the Dead”. “Health is the New Drug” combines both incarnations of the band. It starts out with a spacey 55-second synth/guitar intro that picks up a lot of momentum when the drums and bass line come in. The band, though, is willing to ride that out for another minute+, just letting the groove sink in. After another minute and a half of shredding guitar solos and throbbing drums, The Boxing Lesson arrive at a killer bluesy rock song. It’s musically simple, but they play the dynamics perfectly and the synthesizers add an atmospheric element to what would otherwise be a gritty rock tune. Lyrically, singer Paul Waclawsky calls out health nuts for their inflated self-importance (either that, or he’s really proud of eating right) while Jaylinn Davidson offers some backing “la-la” vocals in the chorus to keep things catchy and light.
This is a promising first single for their upcoming release, so mark your calendars for the February 14th release date of the vinyl 7″, and we’ll let you know when the full LP is released in March.
– Carter