Citizens Of Boomtown

During their original ten-year run, Irish new wave combo the Boomtown Rats drove a bevy of hit singles across the U.K. pop charts, painting seedy pictures of the urban underbelly with a blend of snarling punk energy and pop sophistication on songs like Rat Trap and Up All Night. They even made some noise across the pond with the anthemic I Dont Like Mondays. As the 80s wore on, however, their star began to fade as enigmatic frontman Bob Geldof, became increasingly involved with humanitarian efforts and, following his organization of the massive 1985 Live Aid charity concerts, the Rats eventually threw in the towel and disbanded a year later. They reunited as a part-time touring act in 2013 and in 2020, 36 years after their last release, make a rather unexpected return to the studio with their seventh album, Citizens of Boomtown. Although keyboardist Johnny Fingers and early-era guitarist Gerry Cott are both absent, the Rats of 2020 -- Geldof, guitarist Garry Roberts, bassist Pete Briquette, and drummer Simon Crowe -- are all original members and each brings a surprising amount of energy to the project. After so lengthy a gap, its hard to imagine what a modern-day version of the Rats would sound like and to the bands credit, they dont spend a lot of time trying to recapture their early days. Instead, Citizens of Boomtown explores various stylistic influences that occurred during the groups absence, most notably an unusual electronic dance influence. Grafting sizzling blues-rock guitar riffs onto pulsing techno beats, songs like Get a Grip and The Boomtown Rats come out of left field, yet have an odd vitality to them. More immediately accessible are the nostalgic glam throw-back Trash Glam Baby and the irresistibly charming Heres a Postcard, the latter of which turns a sunny two-chord folk-rocker into a richly arranged harmonic gem. For his part, Geldof swaggers and snarls with plenty of charisma and acerbic wit while the groups strong vocal presence recalls the Rats of old. There is certainly some good material here and credit goes to the band for taking their reunion record somewhere unexpected. ~ Timothy Monger