4 out of 5

Label: Adult Swim

Produced by: Eli Janney

Formed from bits and pieces of Fugazi and Soulside, Girls Against Boys’ first release, Nineties versus Eighties, rather perfectly captures the merging and evolution of ideas. Then with their debut album, Tropic of Scorpio, a might “Fuck Yeah” rings out: the GVSB sound in nigh full-force; the potential of punk and funk meeting up and getting drunk together realized. And had I been cool enough (old enough?) to follow the band during these formative years, perhaps I’d be five-starring this release and trumpeting its art-punk nature from the rooftops, except I’m a GVSB fan who joined in the late 90s, and I have Venus Luxure to reflect on; Scorpio is an entertainingly wild listen, but it’s a bit tainted by a still-forming identity, the group hanging on to Discord-style lyrical anthems and a more slacker version of their disenchanted ‘tude. By the same token, that ramshackle approach gives the album an unleashed vibe that produces something surprisingly forward looking, managing to tap into the polish of Luxure and Cruise Yourself right away, such as on opener My Night of Pleasure, or the more indie rock looseness of their latter-era EP, or even the squiggly lounge funk of New Wet Kojak. Eli Janney’s production on this gives the disc a nice warmth that Ted Niceley’s slicker approach is perhaps lacking, but the tradeoff is maybe this overall lack of focus.

So in the rearview, Tropic of Scorpio is, perhaps, not as good as later GVSB, but it’s also incredibly impressive within that same view, capturing the full scope of the band from the start, just waiting for their identity to crystallize that much more.