Boys Like Girls biography
Boys Like Girls is an American rock band from Massachusetts. Formed in 2005, the group gained mainstream recognition when it released its self-titled debut album. Boys Like Girls was the co-headliner with Good Charlotte for the Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour 2008 that toured across the United States. The group's second studio album Love Drunk, was released on September 8, 2009. As of February 2011 the band announced they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. Recently, on November 17th, 2011, Martin Johnson tweeted "...#boyslikegirlsisback", revealing that the group has not broken up, rather that the members are taking a rest and engaging in various side projects.
History
2005-2006: Formation and early years
The group was formed in Andover, MA in the final months of 2005, when vocalist Martin Johnson, formerly of the Boston act Fake ID/The Drive, wrote a handful of songs he wanted to record. He recruited bassist Bryan Donahue and drummer John Keefe. Keefe brought along lead guitarist Paul DiGiovanni, with whom he had recorded a brief demo, to complete the line-up. Some of the demos' titles were "Free", "If You Could See Me Now", "The Only Way That I Know How To Feel", and others. Some months later Keefe and DiGiovanni learned that they were distant cousins. The group later changed their name to Boys Like Girls.
The quartet soon opened a PureVolume account to showcase their music, and uploaded a rough demo of "The Great Escape" and an acoustic rendition of "Thunder". By the end of the year, the group was on the No. 1 spot on the website's Top Unsigned Artists chart and within a few months had completed nationwide tours with Cute Is What We Aim For, Hit the Lights, All Time Low, and Butch Walker.
Eventually, in 2006, the popularity of the band was overheard by booking agent Matt Galle and record producer Matt Squire, who contacted the band about a future collaboration. With their full support, Boys Like Girls embarked on their first nationwide tour with A Thorn for Every Heart, Hit the Lights and Keating in late February 2006. Following the month-long venture, the group immediately entered the recording studio with Squire to record their debut album for Columbia Records/Red Ink.
During their time in the studio Squire introduced the band to another of his alumni, Cute Is What We Aim For, who offered Boys Like Girls an opening slot on their upcoming headlining tour. Once the album was recorded, Boys Like Girls played back-to-back tours, including the Cute Is What We Aim For tour in June, as well as a two week stint with Butch Walker in late July.
On August 22, 2006, the eponymous Boys Like Girls was released. As of August 2008, the album has sold over 580,000 copies within the United States. While, as the title might suggest, songs about boys liking girls clearly prevail on the album, Johnson occasionally touched upon themes such as his mother's battle with cancer, leaving home, and promiscuous adolescents. Concerning the latter, he discussed the motivation behind the song "Dance Hall Drug":
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