During this age of quarantine, many of us have picked up some new and unexpected habits. Some of us learned how to bake bread, while others became amateur horticulturists. Party Bois, however, took the down time to cover a Boston pop classic — ‘Til Tuesday’s forever unfuckwithable ’80s staple “Voices Carry.”
The re-boot was crafted by remote collaboration over the past several weeks by Boston dance-pop dynamo’s four members, and on Friday (July 10), the swirling synth re-boot saw the light of day. And we think Aimee Mann would be proud, more than just part of the time.
“It was an escape from everything going on, it was something to concentrate on, it made me feel engaged in the band again,” Party Bois’ Northrup tells the Boston Herald. “We’ve been talking about making a cover since our inception (in 2014) but what do we do? We make music in such an odd way. We’re not like a rock band that shows up with guitars, bass, drums and singers and just plays.”
The match of ‘Til Tuesday and Party Bois seems like a perfect fit, pairing two groups from different eras who embrace synthesizers and pop experimentation in a city that’s not always a breeding ground for electronic music. And instead of a passing of a baton, there’s a continuation on the bass.
“I super studied Aimee Mann’s baseline,” Northrup admits, “and my fantasy is she hears this and, even if no one is in the room, says, ‘Damn, the bass player really paid attention to everything.’”
Fire up Party Bois’ version of “Voices Carry” below, and despite the songs suggestion, resist keeping it down.