ET Boys – “Long Night”
ET Boys – “Long Night” – Single Review
So…let’s be real here…for their debut year, ET Boys have established their name solidly within the scene, they’ve released a whole series of singles & racked up hundreds of thousands of clicks from all around the world, and have given themselves plenty of reasons to look forward to the future ahead based on the ol’ public’s reaction to their music – myself included – I ranted & raved over their single “Something Love” not too long ago on these very pages of ours. Ahhh yes…it was back at the end of summer this year that I was introduced to the music being made by these two brothers, Sharkeyes and Tacboy – they had another single called “Sober” out prior to my first experience, and from the looks of things online, they also squeezed one in between then & now as well, releasing “Nowhere” for y’all to enjoy out there. They’ve been hustlin’ – they’ve been workin’ – they’ve been achieving results to be extraordinarily proud of considering how long they’ve been technically releasing music for at this early point in their career…and heck, now is as good as any to announce how freakin’ excited I am to be putting together a video interview with these guys in the background here, right at this very moment! A talented crew like this deserves a deeper dive into what makes their magic happen, and I’ve got every plan on doing just that…these things take time of course, but you’ll all be the first to know when it all comes together because you’ll see it right here plastered all over our homepage. I’m stoked to talk to these guys to say the least though…there’s really nothing better than to run into artists when they’re just getting it all goin’ & they’re inspired to go out there and attack every moment like this duo of talent has been doing.
That being said…we might have a bit more to discuss based on what I’m hearing in this single…so let’s see where all this goes. Here’s what I’ll tell ya right off the bat – there’s no song they’ve put out this year that wouldn’t end up as an A-side on most records out there – and considering they’re pioneering the genre of Nu Pop with each move they make, it’s fair to say they get to make the rules on what’s awesome & what’s not anyhow. At the end of the day, their brand-new single is as essentially flawless in how it’s put together & performed as what you’ve heard from the ET Boys so far – which is also a good thing, obviously – they’re holding their standards for the quality in their sound & that’s important. Where I get a bit more concerned is within the ideas on the new single “Long Gone” and whether or not they completely hold that same standard in comparison to their past singles in that regard…I think that’s a much more debatable topic. While it’s still fair to say they’re making A-side material based on what’s out there in the scene right now, it’s harder to say whether or not this quite lives up to the brilliance they’ve put out there so far to this point. OH NO right? Tragedy strikes ET Boys! Calamity! Pull the fire alarm! Somebody call someone! C’mon now y’all – it ain’t nearly like that whatsoever…and for a band like this to display some areas of potential growth is the best news I could possibly give them. As I’ve said countless times on these pages of ours, I wouldn’t wish the hell of getting everything completely right from the very get-go on any band or artist out there…we all need room to evolve in our own way.
Any points I would make wouldn’t be a comment on the quality of the vocals or the music – I think all that’s right in-line & where it should be. Bonus points for the trumpet in the mix – I’d go into why, but this is a contribution that we’ll all recognize universally for the awesomeness it provides, so no worries – I’m confident you’ll get why I’d mention that & the stellar saxophone in the mix as well – these are key elements that add character to the synth-driven vibes of ET Boys & the music Sharkeyes comes up with. So if that’s the case, really, we’re only talking about personal taste at this point if the quality is this consistent, correct? Honestly that’s all that’s really left…I don’t think these guys need any pointers when it comes to how to write, mix, or produce their material – they’ve got it all goin’ on tight in that department. Here’s where my concerns are though…as plain as I can communicate them, straight-up – if we were to make a list of our favorites from ET Boys to this point, I feel like the order you’d find me listing them in, is the same order in which they’ve been released, starting with my favorite in “Sober.” Then we hit my first experience with’em in “Something Love,” the track afterwards in “Nowhere” – and eventually arrive at this latest cut, “Long Night,” which is still a high quality cut as I’ve already told ya – but I don’t know that it quite hits that same standard they’ve set with the singles they’ve released earlier this year. It’s close…and like I said, it’s all personal taste & opinions from here – there’s a great chance that right now, somewhere out there in the world, someone is reading these words and thinking to themselves that I got this completely wrong, and that their best tracks are the more recent ones – and I’m not gonna fight anyone over that, we all like what we like & love what we love. I’d never dispute the inherent catchiness of “Long Night” – I don’t think anyone listening could MISS that if I’m being truthful with ya. This is simply me, doing what I do, being objective, and also pushing ET Boys to keep on mining their creativity for the best gems they can harvest…maybe THEY feel like they’ve put out a better tune with each release too – like I said, I’m not really here to judge that, just share how I hear it. That being said, if they DO feel the same way that I do…and they’d list their own favorites in the same order that I’ve outlined here…then there IS something they’d wanna examine, tweak, or potentially change somehow. If they don’t, then rock on – keep on keepin’ on I say, all opinions be damned – the bottom line is, make the music that YOU wanna make, however that may sound. There are bound to be moments at the beginning of a career that hit, and far more that tend to miss as the wheels get rollin’ – and with respect to that, you gotta admire just how smooth of a drive forward a vehicle like ET Boys are cruisin’ in…this band is built to be versatile & flex a whole bunch of different gears, and we’ve gotta be on our best behavior as fans & listeners to let these guys find their way to the band they wanna be, as organically & without influence as possible…again, in my opinion. Because I ain’t hatin’ here – and if that’s the way anyone read this review I highly advise ya to go back & read this all over again – I have got nothing but love for the music of ET Boys and the potential that exists within this band; the more that they’re left to their own devices and explore the depths of their creativity, the better the results will be.
As it stands, they should be immensely proud of the year they’ve had throughout 2021 and the stellar entertainment they’ve supplied our speakers with – “Long Night” included in that assessment, of course.
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