Earth Boys

"The Brooklyn duo draw from classic '90s house on this fun, upbeat full-length. I first saw Earth Boys this summer midway through a 14-hour techno party in New York called Fourth World. By the dimly lit patio dance floor of Sugar Hill Disco, not far from a yurt where ambient music was being played, one of the duo, Michael Sherburn, played warm, jazzy grooves from a blinking table of electronic gear. Beside him was the saxophonist Jeff Hackworth, wearing a black button-down as he jammed over the beats. The crowd of Brooklynites, wearing trendy sunglasses and sling bags, danced joyously around the group's floor-level table set-up. Though this was ostensibly a techno party, Earth Boys' early-evening set delivered the unpretentious vibe often heard in '90s house. That's the sound you'll hear on their debut album, eBoys. Sherburn and his production partner, Julian C. Duron, are pals with roots in Brooklyn's creative underground. Their music has landed on house labels with a mellow, melodic sound: 1080p, Let's Play House, 2MR and Public Release, the label releasing eboys. The LP is a smooth and occasionally trippy house record filtered through the group's freewheeling style and Hackworth's high-pitched sax playing. Sherburn and Duron seem especially inspired by Masters At Work, and several shades of the duo's sound surface on eboys."