In case you missed it, BOY released an album called Mutual Friends in September of 2011. A few things have happened since then, so for the sake of context, that was around the time when the Bills jumped out of the gates to a 3-0 start and suddenly became a dark-horse Super Bowl pick. It was only released in Europe, which is another reason why Mutual Friends may have flown under your musical radar. I'm writing about it now because it was released in North America for the first time this past Tuesday, which leads to more questions: Were the necessary documents permitting the release of this nice little album traveling across the Atlantic in a sealed bottle? Why did it take so long?

BOY are a duo who formed in Hamburg, Germany, but before I go any further, I feel the need to mention the fact that they are not boys. They are two young attractive females who sing catchy little ditties. Will you like them? That all depends. If you were able to listen to those old iPod commercials without throwing a heavy object at your television set, you will probably like Mutual Friends. If you like Smoosh or Regina Spektor, you will probably like Mutual Friends. And if you live in the city and co-own a small garden with 23 other people and/or have a chicken that you keep in your backyard so you can give organic eggs to your friends, you will probably like Mutual Friends.

BOY relies heavily upon their crisply-sung vocals and storytelling ability; if you are looking for musical experimentation or a heavy bass line or some kind of statement, you are not going to find it on Mutual Friends. It’s better to listen to this album, close your eyes, and let Valeska Steiner’s voice lead you as your mind wanders into their world. Or just listen to this album, close your eyes, and let Valeska Steiner’s voice lead you as you drift off to sleep.

But I’d recommend their world. They sing about quaint things like being a waitress and serving coffee to traders and bankers and lovers and waiting for something great to happen to them. They sing about leaving an old neighborhood with a new love and a new life and being excited and scared at the same time. I don’t mean this in a patronizing way; they are trying to tell stories and they do it in a sonically pleasing way. That’s the job of a singer/songwriter.

On the 8^th track, “Boris,” Steiner sings about a club owner who wants her to do a few other things with her mouth than just sing. I might be going out on a limb here, but I’ll hazard a guess that something like this has happened to her because she handled it in a very effective way: “Oh what a cute dress/but right now it’s useless/I heard your boyfriend is out of town?” says Boris, the ogre, to which she replies, “You should get out of town too!”

There is certainly a time and a place for this album. I will concede that. It wouldn’t be appropriate to blast this as you take shots before the St. Patrick’s Day parade, for instance. But would this album make the ride from Buffalo to Rochester on a rainy afternoon go by a little quicker? It absolutely would.

Yes, it took a while to get to America. Yes, Mutual Friends seems like it would have gotten here sooner if it was traveling aboard the Mayflower. But now it’s here, and embracing some mellow, feel-good European singing/songwriting is actually NOT the worst thing in the world.

And no, I didn’t write that previous sentence under threat of being pushed off a ledge.

Grade: B-