The Boggs is an independent rock band from New York City that formed in 2001. Their debut album We Are The Boggs We Are (Arena Rock Recording Co.) was a critically acclaimed re-telling of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music that the band mockingly dubbed ‘Archival no-wave’.
The Boggs also contributed a compilation track for This Is Next Year: A Brooklyn-Based Compilation in 2001 (Arena Rock Recording Co.).The follow-up, Stitches, recast the band’s sound as a type of acoustic post-punk.
Some reviews compared the record to a more artsy Pogues or more country-blues based Echo and The Bunnymen.The Boggs have a constantly rotating line up that includes members of other established independent rock bands.
Current members of the band include Matt Shulz (drums) of Enon, Sam Jayne (guitar) of Love As Laughter, David Lloyd (bass) of Cause for Applause, and Heather D’Angelo (vocals/keyboards) of Au Revoir Simone.
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jason Friedman is the only constant member of The Boggs.Friedman met Ezekiel Healy (slide guitar) Brad Conroy (drums) and Phillip Roebuck (banjo) while busking in the New York City subway.
The four recorded the debut record three months after forming. David Lloyd (bass) replaced Roebuck immediately following the recording of We Are The Boggs We Are and was present for the recording of Stitches released in the UK in 2003.
Stitches again received critical attention, but The Boggs’ record label City Rockers was in financial trouble and soon went out of business. Following the collapse of City Rockers, Friedman parted ways with Healy and Conroy and relocated to Berlin where he spent the next two years recording a new album, Forts, which was finally released in 2007 on Gigantic/One Little Indian.
The album was recorded with the help of the Liars' Julian Gross and SchneiderTM's Christian Obermaier, and saw the Boggs sound move in a new direction.The Shy Child Remix of Arm in Arm was used in the 2nd trailer for popular videogame Grand Theft Auto IV.
