Whatever happened to danceable keybs-forward pop? It was quite a thing a couple of years ago before sort of dying off at the hands of the kinds of aggressive musics required for these aggressive times.
But don’t tell The Plum Boys. Frontperson Fabian Aguilar, bassist Bobby Elder, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Caleb Jackson, drummer D’Andre Miskel, and multi-instrumentalist Connor Powell cut their ’80s-pop influences with moody lyricism to arrive at something like Blade Runner at da club.
The twenty- and thirtysomething dudes will celebrate the release of their new record tonight (Thu, Feb 19) at The Post before decamping for Austin to play a showcase at SXSW.
After playing Tulips FTW, Lola’s, and many other North Texas venues, including Tannahill’s Music Hall, where the boys opened for ’80s giants Flock of Seagulls, Aguilar and company are looking forward to hitting the Post for a second time.
Alive’s four tracks were recorded with professional acquaintance Brandon Saiz (who’s worked with Leon Bridges backup singer Brandon Marcel, Sam Harvey, and Averi Burk) at his home studio in Hurst earlier this year.
After forming in 2020 at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, The Plum Boys released a single, “Lexi,” the next year, followed by nearly 20 singles since then. The band put out its debut album, She, in 2022, then the EP Velvet in 2024, plus four tracks in 2025. Most have accumulated 1,000-plus streams so far.
Alive’s first single, “Snorkel,” is a continuation of the sound the guys have been specializing in since Day 1, with lots of saturated instrumentation and dreamlike synths.
The lyrics are as passionate as ever. “Too much of my life,” Aguilar sings plaintively on the first single, “I’ve been lost inside my mind / Worrying about the life / That I’ve let pass me by / All the blindsided distractions / I let take up my time / Masochism is a crime / Can’t regret it this time / This time.”
One thing that separates Alive from the previous releases is its hopelessly romantic heart.
“We went this route because after writing a lot about love,” Aguilar said, “we wanted to open our horizons with our writing and kind of force ourselves to go within and really write about things that we think about all of time and stress over: what’s going on in the world, being aware of our character as we go on this journey as musicians trying to figure out what success means, and just straight up just being confused about the world and wanting to grow. I mean, we feel this our most cohesive stuff so far, and we’re just excited to keep growing as musicians and artists and, most importantly, as people.”
Jackson added that Alive is The Plum Boys’ most personal project, but “it’s also a little fantastical and kooky along the way, answering existential questions with the good and bad as being musicians.
“What you’ll find through the EP,” he continued, “is the realities of growing up while feeling good and feeling scared. I think this EP is a favorite from our work, and it’s edgier. Maybe us Plum Boys are becoming men.”
Some of the songs are a couple years old but still hold up more than well enough, Jackson said. “We want people to forget their worries and dance. Our generation especially is afraid to be zany and outwardly fun and free. We want to give that feeling to people with our work, too. We want people to groove and jam like nobody is watching. We are trying to bring it back.”
Best known for playing saxophone for international recording artists such as Leon Bridges and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Fort Worth native Jeff Dazey has always taken photos during his extensive world touring. Over the past year, he has begun pursuing photojournalism with a specific concentration on social activism. You can see more of his photography @jeffdazey and @owlmedi4.
The Plum Boys EP release party
6:30pm tonight (Thu, Feb 19) w/DJ John the Baptist at The Post, 2736 W 6th St, Fort Worth. $19. 817-945-8890.
