The Boomtown Rats – Citizens of Boomtown (2020)

Trash Glam, baby
It’s a trash can world
Through the glitter ball, honey
Through the glitter bomb
Dancing by yourself at the Moth Club tonight
And maybe getting burned
Dancing too close to the lights

            The Boomtowns Rats are back and only The Boomtown Rats can tell us what we already suspect, it is a “trash can world”. With Citizens of Boomtown, released in 2020, the Irish rock band that formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1975, a band who have been eclipsed by their lead vocalist, Bob Geldof, and his charitable works, have shown they still have what it takes, despite not releasing an album since 1984’s In the Long Grass.

            The possibly of Citizens of Boomtown happening came about in 2013 when the band’s drummer, Simon Crowe and guitarist Garry Roberts approached Bob Geldof about a possible reunion as they had an offer for The Boomtown Rats to play the Isle of Wright Festival in England. Bassist Pete Briquette also reunited with his band members, but keyboardist Johnnie Fingers and rhythm guitarist Gerry Cott did not.

            “It came down to curiosity, vanity, and cash,” recalled Bob Geldof of that reunion, in a 2020 Rolling Stone magazine interview with Andy Greene. “The curiosity was, ‘Were we a good band?’ I always said we were, but you don’t know when you’re actually in it. The vanity was, ‘Yeah, playing in front of 100,000 people! I’m going to be Bobby Boomtown again!” And the cash is always handy. In retrospect, though, I just wanted to hear a fuck-off, big, glorious noise, which is how Bono described the Rats.”

            If it were not for Bob Geldof, would The Boomtown Rats be remembered in North America today? Even with Bob Geldof, are The Boomtown Rats remembered in North America today, or only by a select few? Overseas, during their heyday (1977 to 1985), The Boomtown Rats had more success with the hit songs Like Clockwork, Rat Trap, and Banana Republic. I Don’t Like Mondays was also a hit overseas and is the one hit they had in North America. Released in 1979, on The Boomtown Rats third studio album, The Fine Art of Surfacing, I Don’t Like Mondays, is an excellent tune, and is best known for its inspiration, the 1979 Grover Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego, in which 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer opened fire on children in the school’s playground on January 29, 1979, killing two adults, and injuring eight children and one police officer. Apprehended, when asked why she did what she did, her flippant reply was “I just started shooting, that’s it. I just did it for the fun of it. I just don’t like Mondays. I just did it because it’s a way to cheer the day up. Nobody likes Mondays.”

            It is probably hard for today’s generation to understand just how shocking this incident was; unfortunately, today, incidents of school shootings have become more commonplace than they should be, but back in the late 1970’s, this just did not happen. I remember playing ball hockey in front of my home with some friends, listening to a transistor radio, when the song came on. We all stopped, because we all knew the song was inspired by a girl who shot up a school, although we were too young to know the specifics, and it almost seemed like we should not be listening to it – as if there was something evil about the song that we should not enjoy. Add to the fact the band singing it was known as The Boomtown Rats, and it seemed even more sinister, like something we should not be engaging in. We were young, naïve, did not have the Internet to bring us information instantaneously, and I believe we were better off for it – life held mysteries, and that was exciting.

            In a July 2020 interview with groovyhistory.com, Bob Geldof talked about the infamous song, stating, “Not liking Mondays as a reason for doing somebody in is a bit strange. It was such a senseless act. It was the perfect senseless act, and this was the perfect senseless reason for doing it. So, perhaps I wrote the perfect senseless song to illustrate it. It wasn’t an attempt to exploit tragedy.”

            Okay, back to my original question about Bob Geldof. The Boomtown Rats, despite releasing some fine albums, just were not breaking in America and if it were not for Bob Geldof’s charitable work after watching a news report on famine in Ethiopia by BBC News reporter Michael Buerk, and his determination to do something about it, that started with writing (along with Midge Ure of Ultravox) and recording the star-studded single, Do They Know it’s Christmas? and culminating in the historic, star-studded Live Aid concerts on July 13, 1985 at London’s Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia’s John F. Kennedy Stadium, along with other charitable works that have culminated in his being awarded an honorary Knight Commander of the order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, making him Sir Bob Geldof, would we be aware of The Boomtown Rats today? Certainly, if it was just the band, it would not be Sir Bob Geldof.

            Add to that, a life that was fodder for Great Britain’s tabloids, when his ex-wife, Paula Yates left Geldof for INXs frontman Michael Hutchence, and the relationship between all three was less than amicable at times. When Hutchence was found dead in a Sydney hotel room on November 22, 1997, even more details of his and Geldof’s strained relationship came out, and, unfortunately on September 17, 2000, Paul Yates died of a heroin overdose, as did Geldof and Yates 25-year-old daughter, Peaches in April of 2014. So, along with his own outspoken ways, his charitable work, and troubled personal life, Geldof is better known for being Sir Bob Geldof than the frontman of The Boomtown Rats.

            That is not to say The Boomtown Rats are not a new wave, rock and roll band that does not deserve to be remembered. Sometimes talent rises to the top, achieving everlasting fame, and sometimes it just languishes on the outskirts of fame, being discovered by a few who truly appreciate it and cannot understand why more do not. Geldof deserves to be remembered and honoured for his charitable work, but from a pure standpoint of rock and roll, he and The Boomtown Rats also deserve their place in the sun, because as Bono stated, they made a fuck-off, big, glorious noise!

            A fuck-off, big, glorious noise! That is something to live up to and Citizens of Boomtown, does its best to fulfill that need, sometimes gloriously, and sometimes, well, possibly falling a little bit short, but never so short you would regret listening to this 2020 offering.

            Trash Glam Baby, right off the bat delivers an important message, namely that despite being in their late sixties, The Boomtown Rats and Geldof have not lost their ability to create that ‘glorious noise’ and that Geldof, as a writer has not lost his poetic way with words. Driving guitars, and a punk-like chant, Trash Glam Baby has a beautiful urgency to it.

            Oh no, another shit Saturday night/My jeans don’t fit, and the money is tight/Adele is working down at the charity shop/They got a pair of boots in/So maybe she’ll swap/For my Biba blouse/And my pink feather boa/Is shedding all its feathers/I don’t wanna live no more/I got my diamante and my stick-on stars/I got my New York Dolls/I got my Spider from Mars. 

Trash Glam Baby is one hell of a way to kick off an album, and Sweet Thing, with it’s driving beat keeps up the energy, as Geldoff and The Boomtown Rats tackle their version of a love song; I’m gonna love you on Monday/You’re the start of my week/Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday/Man, we’re hitting a peak/But I love you best on Friday/’Cause you’re my weekend freak/My little sweet thing. Add to all that the lyric, There’s a rumour you’re a tumour on my lovestick, alright, and who does not feel those pangs of love and longing?

            Monster Monkey’s, co-written with Pete Briquette, keeps up the nostalgic rock and roll feel, although this time with a bit of a soulful vibe. Seven days I wandered/With vomit on my soul/There was blood on the pillows/Cancer in my bones/There was lightning in my headspace/Darkness in my veins/There were monster monsoon monkeys/They were suckin’ on my brains. Monster Monkey’s is the kind of song that gets you comfortably stuck in its groove and never lets you down.  

She Said No keeps up the retro vibe, reminiscent of classic rock and roll, with Geldof’s vocal styling and the chant of “No, No, NO!” Not quite the groove Monster Monkeys lulled you into, but a toe-tapper anyway. Four songs in, and Citizens of Boomtown is amongst one of The Boomtown Rats best, although upon release, it did receive mediocre reviews from the professional reviewers, and criticism, but then again, that is them and not me. In my record collection, I have The Fine Art of Surfacing, an album I would suggest you add to yours (and let me know if the musical outro at the end of Side One attracts the attention of your dog making him bark, as it did mine), and I have 1981’s Mondo Bongo, and I am always on the lookout of their other albums, however, I approach this review not necessarily comparing it to their best, or what critics consider their best. If you are a fan, that is your prerogative, however, much like the work of Bruce Springsteen, artists evolve and change, they have life experiences, get married, have kids, and many other things that affect us all, and that often changes their approach to their music and rightfully so. Artists need to evolve and grow. My questions are, if you are a music lover and you picked up this album out of curiosity, and you had no idea about The Boomtown Rats past, is it enjoyable? Do you need to know the past? Do you need to compare Citizens of Boomtown with the past?

            I say this here as Passing Through (co-written by Pete Briquette) finishes side one of the album, and it is primarily side two that critics had troubles with. Passing Through is a solid ballad about a past relationship with some excellent piano work. A great finish to a terrific side one.

            Now, side two. The criticism I read most about Citizens of Boomtown is that is starts off strong and finishes weak. That is both true and false depending on your musical tastes. Side one of Citizens of Boomtown is five solid songs with a retro, punkish, New Wave feel; songs with attitude, Geldof’s unique way with lyrics, and it is very satisfying. Side two, however, morphs into what I would deem ‘Club’ music. On the five songs on side two, The Boomtown Rats find a beat and groove, and settle into it, with choruses you could easily imagine a dance floor full of people chanting along to. The style on side two changes dramatically but that is not to say it is bad, just different, and when listening to an album, you do not expect such a change.

Here’s a Postcard starts off with an acoustic guitar, a song looking at a hot summer’s day. Here she comes walking down the street/High-heeled shoes and her miniskirt/And her heat/It’s a summer’s day in London/All the kids are out on the street/It’s too hot, it’s too hot/You get excited/ Gotta cool down, honey/You got that London beat/We say, yeah.

            K.I.S.S., co-written by Pete Briquette, really embraces the ‘Club’ song vibe, with a chorus that challenges you not to sing along with it: Don’t shut your mouth/Just let it out/You gotta scream and shout/From way down south. This song also features a brief bit of subtle rapping that surprisingly works.

            Rock ‘n’ Roll Yé Yé, co-written by Darren Beale, is one of those songs like Bob Seeger’s Old Time Rock & Roll, I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) by The Rolling Stones, We Will Rock You by Queen, and Rock and Roll All Nite by KISS, that you sing along to mindlessly. There are lyrics, but really you are just there to chant ‘Yeah, Yeah, rock ‘n’ roll!’

            Get a Grip is similar, although if you take the time to truly listen, Geldof is taking on drug use and the Internet in Get a Grip. She’s gonna upload her tit shots/Everybody says she’s hot/A meme queen/Teen dream/Ten thousand billion likes are keen/ She’s metadata/Five star rated/A brand new cyber star created/Just another little suckered girl/Gives it up for Zuckerberg.

            Finally, The Boomtown Rats, the final song on the album, again, another song best suited for chanting. Do you wanna come to Boomtown?/I’ll meet you ‘round the back/Between the dirty alley/And those Boomtown Flats/They’re dedicated to St. Boomtown/He’s the patron saint of crap/He’s pray for a miracle/But what he gets is/Those rats, those rats/Those filthy rats/The Boomtown Rats.

            All the songs on side two are satisfying and have their own charm, but definitely the shift in style and presentation will throw some for a loop. Whether Geldof and The Boomtown Rats realized what they were doing, who knows. In terms of the band’s first studio album since 1984’s In the Long Grass, it is worth adding to one’s record collection. As for the professional reviews, whether they realized the shift in musical styles or not, it was not like The Boomtown Rats have ever been a favourite of theirs or been given a decent amount of respect as a band. As I said, without Geldof’s charitable work and, unfortunately, tabloid perfect life, who knows if anyone would still be aware of The Boomtown Rats in 2021, at least in North America. There are bands who have stood the test of time, and there are some excellent bands, who have not. Along with The Boomtown Rats, I would include The Alarm in this category; The Alarm are one of my favourite bands, with some truly beautiful and epic music, but in this day and age, I have yet to find a record collector who has even mentioned them once in their Youtube videos, nor any of their songs showing up on ‘80’s compilation CDs and such. They stand along The Boomtown Rats, as 1980’s bands who just do not get the respect they deserve. If you are a fan of The Boomtown Rats, you will want to add Citizens of Boomtown to your home music library, if you are not, or too young to have ever been, check it out, it will not disappoint – I do not care what the critics say. ♥