Boygenius released their debut studio album, "The Record," on Friday.
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus met in 2016 and formed the supergroup two years later. With just six songs, written and recorded in four free days, their self-titled EP was hailed by critics as "extraordinary" and "all too brief."
Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus have all released solo albums in the intervening years ("Little Oblivions," "Punisher," and "Home Video," respectively). But boygenius remained relatively quiet, save for releasing a few demos on Bandcamp and providing vocals for Hayley Williams' 2020 track "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris."
After appearing unexpectedly on the Coachella lineup poster, the trio officially announced their comeback in January, armed with three new songs and a Rolling Stone cover.
"There's a realm in which I feel permitted to be ambitious in this band, in a way that I can't for my own solo stuff, because it's something shared with people that I love who are the greatest songwriters ever," Baker told the magazine. "I feel an uncomplicated pride about it."
Insider's music team (senior reporter Callie Ahlgrim and senior editor Courteney Larocca) listened to the new album on our own, jotting down our initial thoughts track by track.
Here is what we thought of each song on "The Record" upon first listen. (Skip to the end to see the only songs worth listening to and the album's final score.)