Free At Noon Flashback: Shy Boys introduce Kansas City indie pop to World Cafe Live - WXPN | Vinyl At Heart
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Shy Boys performing at World Cafe Live for WXPN’s Free At Noon Concert | photo by Rich McKie

Shy Boys may be from out of town — Kansas City, Missouri, to be exact — but their two-day stint in Philadelphia has had them feeling right at home. After the band’s show at PhilaMOCA last night, they were gearing up for today’s Free at Noon performance with a hearty breakfast when frontman Collin Rausch noticed that the restaurant was playing XPN over the speakers. It got even more surreal for the band when they heard a promo for own show today, making them feel like they weren’t too far away from home after all.

The eager Free at Noon crowd, which kept trickling in well after twelve o’clock, only backed up that sentiment. Shy Boys are fairly new to most Philadelphians’ ears — currently touring behind their sophomore album Bell House, which was released in August on Polyvinyl Records, the band has been known to appear primarily in small midwestern DIY venues. (The album itself is named after the house the five-piece shared in their hometown, which Rausch is quoted as describing as “more like a bum den than anything else.”)

Since Shy Boys’ inception in 2014, the band has earned the steadfast support of the Kansas City scene; fellow KC musician Kevin Morby even wrote their bio, wherein he describes the band as “something sacred.” Outside of their local scene, though, Shy Boys are still in the ‘proving themselves’ stage of their success — but that effort was welcomed with open ears at today’s performance, as the audience warmed up to the band more and more with each light, upbeat pop song they played. Shy Boys’ repertoire is innovative; they allow glimpses of influences like the Beach Boys but approach it a wholly singular songwriting style that’s not afraid to experiment. It only took a half-hour set for the audience to become hooked. Luckily, the band obliged with an encore and a promise to return to Philly soon.

Listen back to Shy Boys’ Free at Noon via the XPN player below:

Shy Boys 11.30.18

Check out photos from today’s Free at Noon below, and listen to Shy Boys’ discography via Bandcamp.

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