Punks grow up

Let’s be clear: the guys in Boats! are not friends.

“It’s not a joke,” said frontman Matt Leonardo. “We never hang out unless it’s for band stuff. It’s not like I’m cheating on them with other friends: I just don’t hang out with anyone.”

Local punk trio Boats! has been around since 2007, and in some circles, its members admit they’ve cultivated a less than favorable reputation. Maybe it’s because they say they’re loners. Regardless, they got used to going on tour. A lot. And, as such, they slipped from the forefront of the local music scene.

“We definitely do better on the road,” Leonardo said. “People know us here, and some people personally don’t like us.”

But Boats! members Leonardo (guitar), David Hayden (bass) and newcomer Adam Jennings (drums) say they’re now on a mission to reinvent themselves, as Jennings put it, “as nice dudes.”

Not just nice dudes, but nice, mature dudes. Boats! is no longer a bunch of teenage punks. Leonardo, for example, is a married 27-year-old with a full-time job, mortgage, Prius and dog.

“When I was 18 or 19, I could go on tour and quit my job and live in my car,” Leonardo said. “Now, I have more responsibilities.”

Their November release Black and White marks the band’s third full-length album, as well as a significant shift: It’s the first record the band actually paid to produce. The band’s previous drummer recorded their other albums, but since he left a couple of years ago, Boats! motored into a studio and also signed with the Sonoma-based label Modern Action Records.

It’s been a long time coming. Boats! started writing songs for Black and White in 2010, recorded the tracks in 2011 and experienced chaos throughout 2012. Bandmates came and went. According to Leonardo, Billie Joe Armstrong’s label Adeline Records feigned interest for months before ultimately declining. And even when Boats! found a home with Modern Action Records, there were debates about the album’s title, artwork, etc.

The frustration paid off. Black and White has a cleaner, polished sound without distracting from the band’s signature speedy songs—most clock out at one minute, and they rarely feature an intro, outro or bridge.

“The simpler songs are harder to write,” Hayden said. “People always want to make things so complicated.”

The catchy tracks can be purchased on vinyl or tape—no CD or digital package available. The move could be written off as a hipster-punk ploy or an artifact of nostalgia, but Hayden makes a serious point about experiencing music in an analog way.

“With tapes and vinyl, you have to listen to the whole thing,” he said. “Yeah, you can rewind or lift the needle, but it’s not as easy as just pressing a button for the next track.”

For people who insist on adding Boats! to their clickable iTunes, Leonardo promises to email digital files to anyone who buys a record or cassette tape.

The band’s Friday show at Bows & Arrows (the venue’s last day of business, by the way) kicks off a tour through parts of the West Coast and Canada. Later in the year, it’s planning an East Coast jaunt, and maybe even a tour through Europe or Japan. And despite being on the road so often, the Boats! guys want to emphasize that Sacramento is home, and they’re establishing lasting roots.

“The music scene is great right now,” Jennings said. “I was almost going to move, but things are going so well.”

Jennings currently plays in three other local bands, including hardcore-punk band xTom Hanx. Meanwhile, Hayden is exploring careers as varied as law enforcement, porn and wrestling. And, of course, Leonardo has that mortgage in Oak Park.

“I like Sacramento so much that I bought a little piece of it,” he said. “That’s a commitment.”