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Owen and Hobbs could have just rewritten their debut note for note, but instead they have chosen to take us on a journey that many of us know all too well. Here's waiting for the next instalment.
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Good news for those who loved the debut’s melodies: plenty of material on The Law of the Playground gives that luxuriant pleasure.
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As strong and unusual as The Law of the Playground is, especially out of step in 2009, it never quite feels as inspired, as fraught with conflicted beauty, as past songs 'Paper Cuts' or 'Be Gentle With Me' or 'Monsters.'
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The English duo's cheeky moniker implies some kind of inferiority complex, and while Owen is certainly not immune to wallowing, he spends the group's sophomore album examining loneliness and isolation through a number of different lenses.
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Boasting enough sugary banjos, glockenspiels, and handclaps to give a Teletubby diabetes, The Boy Least Likely To animate their softly sung indie twang with nonstop hooks, bright production, and gently acknowledged adult anxieties. Beneath lyrics celebrating balloons and whiskers lie bittersweet longings.
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Under The RadarPlayground is a charming enough sequel, tailor-made for calm Saturday afternoon respites under the maples. [Winter 2009, p.70]
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While the idea of artistic maturity might seem anathema to the very appeal of the Boy Least Likely To, Playground marks the pair's awkward first steps toward adulthood.