This Boy Wonders

This Boy Wonders

This Boy Wonders are a band from Suffolk, United Kingdom. The group is active from 2009 and is made up of Chris Athorne, Lee Wilkins, Mark Willis and Nikk Butcher.

Style and development

The band’s music is rooted in blues and rock, with earlier material also carrying a strong folk and acoustic element. Frontman Chris Athorne writes songs before the group forms around his material, and the band develops that writing into a fuller sound.

Recordings

The group records three EPs. Their first EP, Chasing Rainbows, appears in 2009 and has a folk-acoustic feel. Songs including “Chasing Rainbows” and “Home” remain part of their live sets and help the band gain support from BBC Introducing in 2009. The second EP, Frame by Frame, appears in 2010 and moves the sound towards heavier guitar riffs and drums on tracks such as “As I Go Now”, while “Phoenix” has an epic feel. It also keeps acoustic elements in songs such as “Save all your Loving” and especially “Ghosts”, which is essentially a traditional folk song.

The third EP, Midnight Writer, appears in 2011 and presents the band in a more blues- and rock-led direction, with a stronger sense of maturity in the songwriting. It is recorded live in two days, and its energetic sound reflects the band’s live performances. Their music is compared with Kings of Leon and Bob Dylan.