Colin Caulfield may have made a name for himself by posting YouTube covers of Bon Iver and Deerhunter songs, but he sounds like he’s ready carve out his own stone on Boy – his debut EP for French Kiss Records. The seven-song effort is supposed to be a concept record about, well, boyhood, and the record – which clocks in at just under half an hour – most definitely hints that listening to Caulfield develop his style is going to be an enjoyable ride.

He wears his influences on his sleeves on cuts like the Beach Boys homage “Up So Fast” and “Just A Growin’”, which plays just like a Born Ruffians cover. His vocal phrasing is almost identical to Ruffians frontman Luke LaLonde’s wise-ass, matter-of-fact delivery and the opening guitar riff sounds straight off the band’s 2008 release, Red, Yellow & Blue. Still, he ditches the Ruffians’ penchant for silly lyrics about foxes mating for more mature lines about seeking to know what he truly "wants and needs," and the song is a microcosm of the entire album’s well thought, carefully crafted nature.

From the first moments of album opener, “Five”, to the last bars of closer “Up So Fast”, you never get the sense that Caulfield – a Minnesota-born resident of Chicago who cut his musical teeth on the streets of Paris – simply tried to see how many different layers he could record onto his measly four-track recorder. “Hands” seamlessly bleeds into “Home Alone”, which takes its time building itself from just acoustic strumming to a full blown concoction of plucked feedback pinging, stacked vocal harmonies, and subtle organ. By the time a bit of white noise takes you into “Bedtime”, you don’t even realize that you’re in the middle of an instrumental interlude. In fact, it’s that attention to detail that makes Boy a record to come back to again and again.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the sing-songy vocal melody of “Playtime”, repeated listens will eventually reveal dissonant drumstick clatter, airy synth, electronic buzzing, and a music box sample that is the backbone of the nearly five minute track. Caulfield’s willingness to take the time to record ambient noise and thoughtfully work it into the record is sign enough that he’s more than just a cover artist and just another reason to give in to him on the track which finds him repeating the line, “lets spend time/lets spend some time.”