The Strange Boys were an American rock band based in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, composed of Ryan Sambol (guitar, lead vocals, harmonica), Philip Sambol (bass), Greg Enlow (guitar), Mike La Franchi (drums), Jenna E. Thornhill DeWitt (saxophone, backing vocals), and Tim Presley (backing vocals). Their music incorporates stylistic elements of

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

, punk, R&B and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

History

The Strange Boys were formed by

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

8th graders Ryan Sambol and Matt Hammer in 2001. Originally a punk duo, they expanded to a trio when Ryan's brother Philip returned to Dallas from college in 2003. In 2007 the band released their debut ''Nothing'' EP on

Dusty Medical Records Dusty may refer to: Places in the United States * Dusty, New Mexico, an unincorporated community * Dusty, Washington, an unincorporated community * Dusty Glacier, Washington People * Dusty (given name) * Dusty (nickname) * Slim Dusty, Australia ...

and in 2009 their first full-length album, '' and Girls Club'', via In the Red Records. In late 2009 the band underwent some line-up changes, with drummer and founding member Matt Hammer being replaced by Seth Densham, originally of Mika Miko (who disbanded in October 2009). Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt, also a former member of Mika Miko, was added as saxophonist and backing vocalist, and Tim Presley, of

Darker My Love Darker My Love was a psychedelic rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Guitarist/vocalist Tim Presley, a former member of the hardcore punk band The Nerve Agents, formed the band in 2004 with drummer and former Nerve Agents bandmate Andy Gr ...

, also joined to contribute backing vocals. Densham later left the group and Mikey La Franchi joined on drums. Around the same time, the new line-up signed a deal with UK record label Rough Trade to distribute their material outside the US, and also announced details of their second album, ''Be Brave''. It was released on February 22, 2010 (UK) and February 23, 2010 (US). The album was preceded by a single release of the title track on January 25 (UK) and January 26 (US). This track was used in a 2012

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

commercial. The band released their third album, ''Live Music'' (Live pronounced ɪv rhyming with ''give''), exclusively on Rough Trade in October 2011. The Strange Boys have toured alongside acts such as

, Night Beats, Mika Miko, Fucked Up,

Crystal Antlers __NOTOC__ Crystal Antlers is an American band from Long Beach, California. History Origins The band started in late 2006 in Long Beach, California, as a 3-piece, Kevin Stuart (drums), Errol Davis (guitar) and Jonny Bell (bass/vocals). The three ...

, Chain and the Gang, Spoon,

Deerhunter Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lotus Plaza, Lockett Pundt (guitar, ...

, and

Julian Casablancas Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of Rock music, rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since the ...

. According to singer Ryan Sambol, The Strange Boys played what was their last show in July 2012 in Canada. In 2013, the title track from "Be Brave" was used in a commercial for

. In 2014, the songs "Doueh" and "Me and You" were featured in the film

Awful Nice ''Awful Nice'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Todd Sklar and written by Sklar and Alex Rennie. The film stars Rennie, James Pumphrey, Christopher Meloni, Brett Gelman, Keeley Hazell and Josh Fadem. The film was released on March 7, 20 ...

. Greg Enlow, a staple of the Austin music scene, died in March 2019. Sambol has gone on to pursue a solo career, releasing the album ''Gestalt'' in 2021.

Discography

*''Nothing'' EP (Dusty Medical Records, 2007) *''Isn't It Pretty To Think So'' 7" (In The Red Records, 2008) *'' The Strange Boys and Girls Club'' (In The Red, 2009) *''Be Brave'' 7" (In The Red/Rough Trade, 2010) *'' Be Brave'' LP (In The Red/Rough Trade, 2010) *''Live Music'' LP (Rough Trade, 2011)

References

External links

In The Red RecordsDusty Medical Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strange Boys, The Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups disestablished in 2012 Musical groups from Austin, Texas Rock music groups from Texas 2001 establishments in Texas In the Red artists Rough Trade Records artists