Ranking All 12 Songs, 2 Years Later

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus formed their indie alternative supergroup, boygenius, in 2018. They released their debut self-titled EP in October of that year before co-headlining a tour, all the while maintaining that their solo projects were still their respective priorities. After a five-year hiatus from boygenius which saw the release of one full-length album from each of them, the trio came back together in 2023 to release their highly anticipated LP, The Record.

When The Record was released, it made massive waves throughout the entire alternative and pop music scenes. Myself, along with many other fans of the album, were not even familiar with boygenius as a group, and were only familiar with the solo careers of one of the three members, if that. Their 12-track resurgence, however, quickly shot Dacus, Baker, and Bridgers to the top of the alt-rock charts, and into the Spotify Wrapped of many brand-new fans. Here are all 12 tracks on that beloved album, ranked.

12

Without You Without Them

Track 1

The introductory track, “Without You Without Them,” provides some nice harmonies to kick off the album. One of only four tracks on which Dacus, Bridgers, and Baker all sing lead vocals, the 1:21 a cappella track is a great way to start off The Record. All three women show off just how great their vocals sound together, reminding fans (and showing new ones) why boygenius is the greatest alternative girl group in today’s music landscape.

That said, this song sounds more like a demo or an audition song than anything else. Given the short length, and the lyrics that are reminiscent of acknowledgments or a thank you to their loved ones, this song sounds a bit like the dedication of the album. It’s a nice tribute, no doubt, but it’s a bit difficult to praise this track above any of the other tracks on The Record.

11

We’re In Love

Track 10

“We’re In Love” is the longest track on the album, which is probably part of the reason I’d categorize it as the most boring track on the album. The lyrics resemble poetry, which is typically a positive aspect of any song with Lucy Dacus’ soft vocals at the helm, but in this case it feels a bit mundane. She sticks to a slim range in the vocals without much variation, giving the song a borderline monotone sound.

If you rewrite your life, may I still play a part?

In the next one, will you find me?

I’ll be the boy with the pink carnation pinned to my lapel

Who looks like hell and asks for help

And if you do, I’ll know it’s you

The lyrics are easily the most interesting aspect of this song, as they could honestly be analyzed as a standalone poem. The song is slow and melodic, and were the production and variation in the music a bit stronger, this song could have had the potential to be among their strongest tracks. It is still a beautiful song, and Lucy Dacus sounds as great as ever, but at almost five minutes long, this song unfortunately just lags in comparison to the rest of the album.

10

Letter To An Old Poet

Track 12

“Letter to an Old Poet” is another simply beautiful and melodic track that sort of loses itself in the melody. I wouldn’t say it has that same monotone quality that “We’re In Love” does, but it feels a little more unrefined than the rest of this album. The lyrics sound almost like an unedited stream-of-consciousness writing exercise, and while there is certainly something to be said for stream-of-consciousness writing exercises, they typically need a little bit more editing before they’re ready to be classified as a finished product.

The lyrics sound almost like an unedited stream-of-consciousness writing exercise.

The strongest line of the song comes just under halfway through, when Phoebe Bridgers sings, “But you’re not special, you’re evil / You don’t get to tell me to calm down,” with subtle harmonies from Dacus and Baker. Regardless of the words she is actually singing, Bridgers’ vocals on this track have a melancholy beauty. The song is soothing to listen to, and it is as good a song as any to close out the album.

9

Anti-Curse

Track 11

This song is one that just kind of fades into the background due to the sheer excellence present throughout the rest of the album. It has some great lyricism, and a handful of classic Julien Baker moments on vocals, but overall it doesn’t really fit into the grand scheme of the album very well. Perhaps if it were earlier on in the tracklist, it would have stood out more, but as the second to last song on the album, “Anti-Curse” can be kind of easily forgotten.

I’m a sucker for some good old-fashioned high school nostalgia, and I think this song had some seriously wasted potential as a great nostalgic anthem. With lyrics like, “Was anyone ever so young? / Breaking curfew with illegal fireworks / Unpacking God in the suburbs,” if this song were given more of a spotlight, it could have been a solid contender for the greatest song on The Record. Unfortunately, it just didn’t stand out relative to the rest of the album.

8

Revolution 0

Track 7

“Revolution 0” is another song that kind of fades into the background of the album. That said, the lyrics do have a little more substance than songs like “Anti-Curse” or “We’re In Love,” and Bridgers’ vocals just elevate the song as a whole. The words are chilling, and Bridgers sings with a sort of haunting parallel to the guitar, singing about mental illness and themes of depression.

This song is deeply personal, and that is a clear feeling one gets upon first listening to the track. It is brooding, but in a major key, which feels almost incorrect given the aura of the lyrics and the slow tempo of the melody. Even if “Revolution 0” has a hard time standing out on an album full of hits, it is still a testament to just how versatile boygenius’ sound can be. A song with lyrics as deep and dark as these with a beautiful guitar backing that has an almost whimsically happy sound that only the boygenius girls could pull that off.

7

$20

Track 2

Personally, I love “$20” if for no other reason than Julien Baker’s throaty scream at the end of the song. From an objective standpoint, the song does sort of get a bit lost with the repetition of the refrain. The first half of the song is done flawlessly; the guitar riff in the introduction followed by Baker’s raspy vocals set us up for what could have been the pinnacle of boygenius’ hard alt-rock sound.

Baker’s raspy vocals set us up for what could have been the pinnacle of boygenius’ hard alt-rock sound.

By the second half of the song, once we’re hit with, “Gas, out of time, out of money / You’re doing what you can / Just making it run,” it’s almost as if the song gets stuck in a loop. The loop ends with Baker scream-singing, “Twenty dollars,” and then there is another 30 seconds or so of instrumentals and miscellaneous vocals. The first half of the song certainly carries enough weight to excuse the loop in the second half, but that loop does detract from the song’s overall greatness.

6

Emily I’m Sorry

Track 3

“Emily I’m Sorry” was one of the three singles released as the initial announcement of the album, and the greatest strength of this track comes from the vocal harmonies present in the chorus. While Phoebe Bridgers is credited with the lead vocals on this song, the way they all sound together from the words, “Emily, I’m sorry I just / Make it up as I go along,” is enough to make your breath stall.

The transition from “$20” to “Emily I’m Sorry” is the perfect way to introduce both The Record and boygenius’ identity as a band. They don’t miss a beat when going from the hardcore alt-rock vibes of “$20” to the soft acoustic guitar that kicks off “Emily I’m Sorry.” The first slower ballad on the album (barring “Without You Without Them”), “Emily I’m Sorry” is the kind of multi-faceted slow jam that exemplifies why they decided to come together as a band in the first place.

5

Leonard Cohen

Track 8

Coming in at only 1:42, “Leonard Cohen” is the perfect contrast to “Without You Without Them,” showing that boygenius is more than capable of a smash-hit short song. I remember listening to this album for the first few times and “Leonard Cohen” being among my favorites; I was genuinely surprised to see it only had a run-time of under two minutes. The song consists of a verse, followed by a sort of pre-chorus, another verse, and an outro. Such a formula would typically make a song feel incomplete, but not this one.

Every line in this song has some depth and weight to it. The lyrics kind of abruptly transition from the scene in the car from the first few sections of the song to a tribute to the song’s namesake, Leonard Cohen, with his quote, “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” The song ends on a beautiful high note, Dacus singing, “But I agree / I never thought you’d happen to me.”

4

Cool About It

Track 5

“Cool About It” is the first full-length song on this album that features all three members as the lead vocalists. It is also one of just two individual songs on the album that were nominated for a Grammy, namely Best Alternative Music Performance. It is the perfect balance between all three of their vocal strengths, taking turns as lead and harmony, with each one of them heading a verse.

The lyrics to “Cool About It” are also a great sample of the themes of romance and mental illness, which are both very prominent throughout The Record – particularly in Bridgers’ verse, when she sings:

Once, I took your medication to know what it’s like

And now I have to act like I can’t read your mind

I ask you how you’re doing and I let you lie

The words are honest and emotion-ridden, like so much of boygenius’ work. It feels wrong to characterize this track as a ballad, but given the slow tempo and the underlying thematic romance, that wouldn’t be inaccurate. This would be another difficult undertaking by many alternative rock bands of today, but boygenius makes it look easy.

3

Satanist

Track 9

The other side of the boygenius alt-rock slow ballad coin, “Satanist” is the best anthem to come out of this album. It is purely that: an anthem. In the lyrics, and in the way the song starts out with a hardcore electric guitar riff, it’s angry, anti-establishment, and resonates deeply with so many of boygenius’ fans. Given the timing of the album’s release and the political climate of the nation at large, it’s no wonder this song gathered the love it did from boygenius fans.

It’s angry, anti-establishment, and resonates deeply with so many of boygenius’ fans.

The song starts with the iconic line, “Will you be a satanist with me?” and the following verses ask the same question, replacing satanist with ‘anarchist’ and ‘nihilist.’ Another song with all three women singing lead vocals, “Satanist” is a track that is truly representative of the band’s sound. When they performed on SNL, “Satanist” was the second track they chose to play, and for good and clear reason.

2

Not Strong Enough

Track 6

The first song boygenius chose to play during their SNL performance, and the other song that was nominated at the Grammys, “Not Strong Enough” is one of the best songs to come out of the year 2023. The band won both Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for this track, and it was nominated for Record of The Year. “Not Strong Enough” is the kind of song that ties an album together, specifically with the repetition of “Always an angel, never a God” towards the end of the song, culminating in another iconic Julien Baker scream.

Keeping up with the theme of romance throughout the album, “Not Strong Enough” is a track that also wrestles with issues of gender and sexual identities. The lyrics of the chorus boast, “I don’t know why I am / The way I am, not strong enough to be your man,” coupled with the fact that all three women identity as a part of the LGBTQ community, suggests a struggle with identity that many of their fans can relate to.

1

True Blue

Track 4

When I first heard The Record, “True Blue” evoked a truly visceral reaction within me. The intro to the song is a gorgeously strummed chord progression in which you can hear the strike of every guitar string. Lucy Dacus’ vocals then come in, blending seamlessly with the guitar, as the music complements her voice perfectly. Rarely do all the elements of a song come together so flawlessly as they do in “True Blue,” making this track into something truly special.

The lyrics of the chorus make the listener feel understood, and make the song itself feel universally relatable:

And it feels good

To be known so well

I can’t hide from you

Like I hide from myself

“True Blue” is another song that feels ambiguously at the center of the boygenius ballad to anthem spectrum. It certainly has a more ballad-like feel, but it isn’t as slow and soft as some of their other tracks. That said, it would be the perfect song to explain the band’s sound to someone who only has time to listen to one track – though they would seriously be missing out by not listening to boygenius‘ The Record in its glorious entirety.