Formed in Kansas City, Missouri in 1993, Boys Life stands as one of the bands most integral to that city’s music scene, alongside acts such as Giant’s Chair, Christie Front Drive, and Knapsack. The group disbanded in 1997 but a 2024 box set from Chicago’s Numero Group, titled Home Is A Highway, demonstrated that interested in the quartet remained strong. That collection featured 36 tracks, including music from split singles, live tracks and their two albums. But guitarist and vocalist Brandon Butler didn’t want that to be the final statement from the group. In June 2024, Butler, guitarist Joe Winkle, bassist John Rejba and drummer John Anderson got together in a house outside Kansas City and worked up the new material that comprises the band’s new EP, Ordinary Wars, which is out November 21 on the Spartan label.
Butler, who now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, recently discussed the impact that the box set had on the band, its legacy, and the song “Ordinary War,” which stands as the centerpiece of the EP and is arguably the best song in the Boys Life oeuvre.
Host/Producer: Jedd Beaudoin
Theme music: Torin Andersen
