No, they’re not really that loud,
onomatopoeia aside. The band isn’t nearly as percussive as the title would
imply.
Crash Boom Bang was the first random band to
follow me on Twitter. The Gin Blossoms were the first band to follow me, but I
followed them first and I knew who they were. With Crash Boom Bang it was out
of the blue. I checked out some songs and a video, because that seemed like a
reasonable thing to do, and I saw many comments on the video about other people
coming because they band had followed them. It’s a reasonable strategy.
I never followed them back, and they don’t
follow me now, so I don’t know that part of it. Right now they have 3:1 ratio
of followers to follows, so maybe they got really popular, maybe all of the
follows are temporary, I don’t know. At the time I was trying to keep my feed
relatively clean. It was a while ago.
Actually, it was about the time that I saw
that Boys Like Girls was touring with All-American Rejects, so I had started
listening to them at about the same time as well, and initially I found some
corrollaries. There were some pop, clubby songs, but where Boys Like Girls
often goes a bit country, Crash Boom Bang stayed firmly in the clubs.
That may be why their music never stuck with
me that much. I have no interest in the club scene. Actually, calling it clubby
may denote to some that it is techno, and it’s not. It’s more that the subject
matter is all about partying and dancing and having the drinks in hand, and the
party lifestyle. This is the exact subject matter of “VIP”, which has the
video, and has a radio version, so I’m guessing that’s their big hit, though
I’m not really seeing a lot of specifics about them.
I didn’t think about it that much on the
first listen, but going through the second time I was just disappointed in the
lack of substance. Also, I was very turned off by the profanity in “Hands Up”
Yes, a lot of the bands I listen to regularly use some kind of language in
their songs, and not even only the ones from New Jersey. However, because their
songs are actually saying something, it makes it more palatable. In this case,
a song about putting your hands up just keeps repeating “It’s a mother-f*ing
anthem” over and over again.
Okay, that doesn’t really add anything. It
adds four syllables. If the line is too short, maybe it needs something else.
And yes, not everyone cares about profanity, and not every song needs to be
deep, but it should have something going for it. Despite the devotion to
partying, these songs don’t feel that fun. They are adequately performed, but
no real virtuosity sticks out, so it’s just kind of disappointing.
I was thinking, okay, they’re not great now,
and a lot of it seems to be due to a lack of depth, but they could grow out of
it, and here is the real tragedy: their previous material was deeper and more
heartfelt.
Based on Spotify, in 2009, they had a 4-track
release, Surrender, and Gold Rush, with 11 tracks. Surrender
may be their best. 2011 brought These Wild Things, with only 6 tracks,
two marked as explicit, and one that got the radio play. At the same time,
there was an increase in the sexualization of their images. This applies not
just to the album covers, but their Twitter page, and the video and Facebook,
where it is all about the scantily clad girls groping and being groped, and
duck lip pictures.
Even the getting acquainted video on Youtube
is each member answering which part of the female body they like best. Most of
the band members come off as affable, but not that bright. Omar, the lead
singer, seems kind of skeevy. So, if they want to become something more, he
will probably have to lead them there, which is a reasonable task for a
frontman, but I don’t see that they want it.
So, overall I would have to call Crash Boom
Bang disappointing, and I will prefer to think of it as a Roxette reference.
However, their information is still included if you want it. Music taste
remains deeply personal.
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