Soda Bomb

Wanna Jam?

Written by: MIN on 04/12/2015 18:04:22

Soda Bomb from Long Island, New York, is an American punk/garage-rock band which first formed in 2012. For a band with such a name, you expect a lot of things, but don’t worry: Soda Bomb is both daring, adventurous and a hell of a good time. They’ve previously released an EP called “The Future is Gonna Suck” where they set a raucous and aggressive, yet fun and joyous template for their future releases, and this, their debut album “Wanna Jam?”, far exceeds it in all of its lo-fi and punk-rocking glory.

The songs range rather wide, having dynamic structures going from 0 to 180 bpm in no time. Looking at the album-opener “Look Ma, I Majored in House Parties” as an example, it starts off the first few seconds of the song with an acoustic (almost classical) guitar, but suddenly bursts into a distorted riff that runs throughout the song, accompanied by bouncing basslines, adventurous drum-fills and vocals going from loud and hoarse to low and clean.

Further proof of the band’s raucousness is best displayed in the song “Damn, Dude”. It starts off in the same manner as the album-opener but has a much thicker bass and louder drums, while constantly having lyrics shouted from the top of the lungs and guitars reminiscent of fellow young punk-rockers, PUP. There’s a break in the song where everything slows down, but just as you think the song transcends into something less jarring, the drums pick up the pace to a danceable beat suddenly going faster and faster. The band demands you to have a good time, and you’d be a sucker not to obey.

But despite its many strange song structures, “Wanna Jam?” is still filled with great one-liners and catchy choruses, and especially the second song, “Brainbuster”, is a track with easily recognizable lyrics sung over a groovy melody: My brain's busted // you know man cause I'm just dead meat // as my face meets concrete.

Mostly, the record keeps an energetic pace throughout, but it also contains songs which are less frenetic. A great change of pace is witnessed in the more somber melody of “Grump” which makes you think of bands like the British emo/grunge-outfit Basement with its quiet yet rich guitar picking. The lyrics are about breaking up, but it never becomes too sappy, and just as soon as you reach the next song on the track list, Soda Bomb bursts with uncontrollable energy once again. Especially here, the record’s lo-fi production really aids both sides of the band as it complements both the quiet melody of “Grump” and the sudden burst into “Nobody Likes My Band”. It’s like a raw nerve constantly being touched without ever getting fully irritated.

“Wanna Jam?” manages to stay interesting, fun and well-played all the way through. Most of the tracks have an ability to transcend nicely into each other, they have similarities while differing, and as a whole they help create a fuller soundscape and impression of the album; it dangles and flares in every direction just like a can of coke you’ve shaken just before opening it, and it has an incredibly well-executed diversity that few other bands within the genre are able to copy. There are plenty of choice-cuts to pick from, and with this album, the band has made an impressive debut full-length. Ultimately, Soda Bomb might not help you get through your winter depression, but they make damn sure you remember how fun the summer was.

8

Download: Look Ma, I Majored in House Parties; Fat Tom; Damn, Dude
For The Fans Of: Pup, Joyce Manor, Basement, Big Kids
Listen: facebook.com/Sode Bomb

Release date 07.04.2015
Broken World Media


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