The Boy Detective Announce “Girl All The Bad Guys Want” Single

When thinking of some of the most iconic pop punk singles from the last 25 years, there’s no doubt that Bowling For Soup‘s Girl All The Bad Guys Want belongs on that list. It’s instantly recognizable and always leads to an epic sing-a-long when you hear it. Michigan ska punk band The Boy Detective took the energy and excitement of the song, sped it up a little, added some horns and some upstrokes, and created a ska punk cover that is destined to become a classic in its own right. The Boy Detective‘s take on Girl All The Bad Guys Want will be released on the 21st August via Punkerton Records and can be pre-saved / added here.

“Bowling for Soup has always been a band on The Boy Detective’s radar. Nic and I used to cover ‘Girl All the Bad Guys Want’ in our ’90s and early-2000s cover band, Royale with Cheese. I’ve loved the song since high school. Bowling for Soup has always been a rad pop-punk band, and I grew up listening to them, learning how to sing, and loving their huge, high-energy choruses. Not to mention, one of their members came from another band I really loved, Patent Pending. When The Boy Detective first started, around the same time as Dorkus Malorkus, we recorded a cover album called Clarity, where we covered a number of ska, punk, and emo bands. ‘Girl All the Bad Guys Want’ was one of the songs we considered, but it did not make the cut. After we added horns to the band, we decided to bring the song into our live repertoire. We started by adding the horns, then leaned further into the ska elements, and eventually added a faster punk beat to make the song feel more like us. Honestly, the idea was simple: How do you make a banger even more of a banger? Speed it up and add horns. We also had Emily, our trumpet player, sing the interlude. Adding a female vocalist gave the song a cool new dynamic and made it fit the subject matter even better. We had been playing it live for a while, and when members of Bowling for Soup started commenting on our version, we knew we had to record it. We wanted to change a couple of words in the song, but since that is nearly impossible to do legally without permission, Brandon from Punkerton Records reached out to Jaret Reddick. He listened to the song and gave us his blessing. ‘Girl All the Bad Guys Want’ was, and always will be, a hit. We just made it faster, added horns, and put a cherry on top.” (lead singer Benny Capaul)