The story of COWBOY BOY’s Lipstick On A Pig quite literally begins and ends with Great Scott, the Boston-area mainstay that hosted local acts starting in the early 2000s up until its shuttering in 2020. The eponymous first track alludes to falling in love while smoking cigarettes on the venue’s patio, and the final track, “Over”, hints at crying in the bathroom while a former love plays in the band onstage. There are multitudes contained between these two bookends: earnest, vulnerable writing that touches everything from lost love, existential anxiety, and healing, to relationships – with time, with one’s body, with God. This heaviness is sweetened up with soaring, hook-laden melodies, lush, lovingly crafted rock instrumentals, and blistering riffs that are everything from cheeky to poignant to at times hysterical.

The diversity of the power-pop duo’s influences are in full view on this release, suggesting everyone from genre stalwarts like The Marked Men, Radioactivity, and White Reaper, to boygenius, The Cars, My Chemical Romance, and Queen. The thoughtfulness with which COWBOY BOY pays homage to these acts underscores the deliberation of every choice made on this record; every detail is lovingly included, no single moment occurs by accident. A record this unique could only be created by this band at this moment in time, and that is its most compelling quality – it harnesses chaos and nostalgia, anxiety and yearning, and synthesizes them into something universally relatable...even if you’ve never fallen in love on the Great Scott patio.