BAND – THE BOOJUMS

ALBUM – THE BOOJUMS

REVIEWER – GRAEME WRIGHT

Having been around long enough to have experienced the breakthrough of American punk in the late seventies, I’ve been following the buzz around The Boojums since they formed in 2024 with a great deal of interest. In a short period of time they have received a lot of attention and are about to release their debut self-titled album, ‘The Boojums’. The band combine that seventies punk vibe with a more nineties pop/rock feel, and this record contains the best of both worlds, with twelve short, sharp, dynamic tracks that hit the spot from the very first listen. The band achieve that difficult balancing act of paying homage to musical eras past while producing a sound that is fresh, original and interesting that fully justifies the excitement around this trio of musicians.

As a whole this record keeps you on your toes, with insistent guitar riffs, down and dirty heavy bass and a chameleon-style vocalist who can sound like Fee Waybill on one song and a stoned Bruce Springsteen on the next. Opening track ‘Outta My Head’ sets the stage for the following shenanigans with its pace, power and dirty attitude, while first single ‘Wings Of Fire’ mixes Americana-style lyrics with an unholy Ramones/Springsteen hybrid sound that is just musical joy to this jaded hack’s ears. ‘Stick Together’ is a sub-three-minute punk/pop ditty with an additional touch of Joe Jackson about it that had me nodding my head in approval on my very first listen.

‘Burnin Up’ begins with a beguiling bass guitar sound before morphing into a melancholy opening section that switches gear again into a crescendo of low-slung guitar, with a heavy drum sound that powers things along to an epic conclusion. ‘Meet Me In The Middle’ is all wailing vocals and crashing percussion that wouldn’t have been out of place in ‘Eric’s’ in Liverpool during the late seventies, while ‘Like It’ brings things down a notch with a big Americana opening before a huge metal midsection kicks the doors down. ‘Garden Of The Sons’ is another emotional song that is almost from another era, ‘Football’ has a big Springsteen vibe in both lyrics and vocals, and ‘Gravy’ is primo eighties pop/rock.

‘Don’t Wanna Love’ is classic US punk, both plaintive and aggressive in the same sentence and a textbook example of what this band is about. There is then a big change of pace, with Sara Johnston taking over vocal duties to great effect with ‘Dan’s Transmission’, a song that faintly echoes prime-era The Runaways but one that is always comfortable in its own skin and is a wonderful piece of music. The album closes with ‘Yellow Lines’, which is again something different compared to the rest of the album. Echoes of Springsteen again, combined with a heavy bass sound and a longer running time that produces a classic seventies-style rock song, which again proves that this band can play anything, even throwing an AC/DC-style guitar lick into the middle of the record. Sheer class, just like the rest of the album.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this record a lot. Attitude, originality and variation, as well as pace, power and aggression. What more could you possibly ask for?

BAND

Willie Stratton – Guitar/Vocals

Sara Johnston – Bass/Vocals

Patrick Murphy – Drums/Vocals

ALBUM TRACK LIST

1. Outta My Head
2. Wings Of Fire
3. Stick Together
4. Burnin’ Up
5. Meet Me In The Middle
6. Like It
7. Gardens Of The Suns
8. Football
9. Gravy
10. Don’t Want to Love
11. Dan’s Transmission
12. Yellow Lines