Billionaire Boys Club

Like fellow Garden Staters Thursday, Saves the Day, Armor for Sleep, and My Chemical Romance, Jersey City's Billionaire Boys Club has the post-punk, emo-verging-on-screamo sound on lock, and they've got the résumé to prove it. Formed in 2002 by guitarist/vocalist Reef, guitarist/vocalist Mark Sunderlin, drummer Matt Lewis, and bassist Leigh Nelson, the shaggy-haired, tight-harmonizing Boys took their name from an obscure 1980s B-movie starring Judd Nelson. Before they had a chance to rethink that, their music caught on. With the release of debut EP Career Opportunities in 2003, the band got the call to appear -- twice -- on Last Call With Carson Daly; it also earned the distinction of being the first band ever to be featured on the front page of the teen-magnet site myspace.com. Adding to the out-of-the-gate fanfare, an unapologetically catchy single, "Don't You Wanna," was picked up by VH1. For all the accolades, though, BBC -- whose sound owes a heavy debt to Weezer, blink-182, Jimmy Eat World, and the Replacements -- has remained largely a local act, opening across the New York/New Jersey area for the likes of Fountains of Wayne, Cake, the Dandy Warhols, and Superdrag. East Coast fans shouldn't count on keeping the Boys to themselves forever, though: in January 2006, the all-20-something quartet released its first full-length album, the super-caffeinated, rocked-up What Happened Last Night on Quit Your Day Job Music. Sal Villanueva (Thursday, Taking Back Sunday) produced.
— Tammy La Gorce , All Music Guide