Boys' Entrance - Boys' Entrance Presents Bowie's Entrance, Vol. 1 & 2

Boys' Entrance

Boys' Entrance Presents Bowie's Entrance, Vol. 1 & 2 
self-released; 2020

3.8 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Boys' Entrance is credited as "Chicago's first queer boy rock band” by Out and Proud In Chicago beginning in 1991. The band is the product of the founder Tim Cain and has featured a variety of players throughout the years. He recently released Boys' Entrance Presents Bowie's Entrance, Vol. 1 & 2.

The songs are all covers and all are in the universe and zeitgeist of David Bowie. Most of the songs are Bowie’s but other artists such as The Kinks and The Velvet Underground are in the mix as well. The artist chose to keep the covers fairly close to the original. 

The album starts with “Space Oddity” and as I mentioned this version has a very similar quality to the original between the snare sound, dynamics and overall emotional resonance.  It was very well done in terms of the delivery and execution. This has always been a personal favorite song of mine and Cain really does it justice.

As the album progresses there are twelve more songs. I’ve always been a fan of “China Girl“and arguably the most popular song Bowie ever released - “Heroes.” I thought these two songs in particular were really well done. Cain hits the right inflection and the performances are air tight all around.

The song “Ziggy Stardust” was another song that hit me. That song was a favorite we used to play in college. I also have to give a shoutout to “Sweet Transvestite” which felt right at home with the other songs on the album. 

I really love most of the original versions of these songs and these felt like approximations. It was an interesting artistic decision but made sense given the qualities of the vocals.

As I mentioned the artist really embraces the original aesthetic and doesn't reinvent the songs as much as simply tip his hat to the original conception. On that note if you’re a purist I think there will be a lot to enjoy with these songs.

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