Greg Hoy and The Boys’ “Carry Me Back Home”

Greg Hoy and The Boys’ “Carry Me Back Home” does one hell of a job pouring old wine into new bottles. This rollicking and supremely well-recorded effort isn’t just the hold me up during a good time party tune that a superficial reading may come away with. It’s a near perfect expression of an attitude as old as the form, for sure, and the relaxed looseness Hoy and his like-minded comrades share doesn’t have a single affectation at all. It isn’t just a musical attitude, however. It’s a way of life with a code and manner of conduct that the song never spells out, but it does imply it.

Anyone who has listened to rock music through their life will smile and nod as the song takes us in. Hoy and the Boys achieve that perfect rambunctious, yet never overwrought, guitar/bass/drum sound that’s been the genre’s bread and butter since rock music’s earliest days. The modern world isn’t absent from the song, however, as Hoy and the Boys are never fixated on serving up a retro tribute. There’s a moody alt rock vibe you can hear as well. It isn’t a pronounced thing but, instead, a little like a shadow casting a dark outline over the track.

The dominant mood, by far, a rugged and well-worn sense of brotherhood emanating from every aspect of the performance. The vocals help accentuate that a great deal. Hoy’s voice has a well-paced metamorphic bloom that evolves in a considered fashion. His experience and savvy shine through. It isn’t a long song, nor a gloss job. Hoy and The Boys find the sweet spot that’s long enough for serious listeners, but never too long-winded for casual customers.

The guitar sound is memorable. There are two guitars working here and they achieve a sort of elastic alternative rock sound. Hoy and The Boys are offering fans a more than worthwhile promo video with the song with a variety of inventive shots that do a great job syncing up with the song’s energy, Attentiveness is a quality that may not be discussed enough when we’re talking about Hoy and The Boys’ new single, but it’s clearly the work of musicians paying close attention to the song’s needs.

Pairing a loosely conceptual clip with the song is the right move. A narrative video would have possibly distracted listeners from the song. The video compliments it. Their one-two punch makes for one of 2022’s more entertaining tandem releases and there’s no reason to believe that Hoy and his collaborators won’t follow it up with even greater accomplishments in the near future.

“Carry Me Back Home” doesn’t express any high art, at least not in a manner to which we’re accustomed, but it’s doubtful anyone will care. It’s a musically satisfying knockout that holds up under repeated listens. A lot of bands would have been content to settle for the lowest common denominator fare with a song such as this, but not Greg Hoy and The Boys. “Carry Me Back Home” is an entertaining rock song with surprisingly enduring value.

Mindy McCall