The Boyfriends – ‘I Love You’ (Boobytrap) Released 13/02/06

Or ‘I Love You (An Ode to Mr. Stephen Patrick Morrissey)’ as it’s known around these parts. On their debut single, The Boyfriends replicate the sweeping gloom of the Smiths, with singer Martin Wallace’s dour, flat intonations sounding uncannily like Moz himself. Of course, any song that wears its Smiths influence so explicitly and so successfully is A Very Good Thing, but the whole lot is let down by the kind of trite, cloying lyrics that could have been copied from a Hallmark Valetine’s Day card. ‘I didn’t realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry’ as a certain Mancunian misanthrope might say.