Looking back at this past year, Ipecac and Relapse leap out as two record labels who have
consistently released music of superb quality all year long, but while their success is deserved (not to
mention undeniable), there's one small cadre of Western Canadian underdogs who have consistently
put out some of the most fun music of the year, that being Vancouver, British Columbia's Boompa. As
their fellow Vancouverites Mint Records continue to ride the success of mainstays Neko Case, the
New Pornographers, The Organ, and Carolyn Mark, Boompa has overtaken Mint as the coolest indie
label on Canada's West Coast, amassing a very impressive, surprisingly diverse roster of talent. And
if you needed any proof of how far this label has come in the last year or so, you need not look
any further than their mighty fine recent compilation Boompa Volume 1.
As far as record label samplers go, it's one of the most impressive compilations to come out in
some time. Instead of coming off as a hastily patched-together collection that reads as little more
than a blunt advertisement (don't get me wrong, that's partially their intention), this hour-long
disc plays like a lovingly-assembled mix CD. The overall flow from track to track is smooth, as it
veers from punkpop, to twee, to electronic, to eclectic, to acoustic, but as varied as the songs
may seem when described that way, the tracks all share one thing in common, that being a keen pop
sensibility, and therein lies Boompa's great strength. The music is sometimes straightforward,
sometimes introspective, sometimes experimental, but as Boompa shows with every release, it's always,
always fun.
That buoyant feeling is set immediately by Sekiden's "Alexander". The talented Australian trio,
whose recent album Junior Fiction blends '80s synths with Weezer-style punkpop, and this
track is both catchy and hilarious, perhaps the best rock song about Alexander Graham Bell ever
written (granted, there can't have been very many), singing, "And I wonder why I'm so alone/ Am I just
the guy who invented the telephone?/ Alexander Graham Bell/ Sometimes it's better just to yell."
Cleveland's Kiddo follows with another slice of catchy guitar pop, before the table is turned a bit by
the highly talented Victoria, British Columbia duo Run Chico Run, whose "Jacques and Madeleine"
sounds like a combination of Nick Cave and old-fashioned cabaret. After two charming, pnuk-lite
tunes by Vancouver faves Billy & the Lost Boys and Calgary, Alberta's The Dudes, another Calgary band,
Reverie Sound Revue, comes in with the beautiful little twee tune "Rip the Universe" (sadly, the
band has since split up). Later on, the CD shifts more toward the electronic realm, with
"Non-Revival Alarm", by Circlesquare, and Canadian music veteran Kevin Kane's poignant cover of Alejandro
Escovedo's "Follow You Down", who smoothly combines his usual acoustic music with electronic
elements.
The album's highlights are euphoric. Former Dirtmitts singer Natasha Thirsk steals the show with
her solo recording "Don't Think", a gorgeous acoustic tune that features an incessant, extremely
catchy chorus that quickly transcends the song's demo-quality sound ("I'm tired of thinking/ Stayed
up all night blinking/ Caught up on my reading/ Waiting for the ceiling/ To drop and I'm done being
mad"). Thirsk makes another appearance on her former band's song "House Arrest", a fine song in its
own right. The Ladies and Gentlemen, formed by former Carnations member Thom D'Arcy, is shaping up
to be Canada's answer to Grandaddy, with the same gentle melodies, electronic touches, and
charmingly lugubrious singing as the California band, and the sweet "Stay" instantly makes them one of
the Canadian bands to watch for in early 2005. And if that weren't enough, the lovely "Midweek
Midmorning", the best track from the Lucksmiths' recent album Naturaliste, that being has been
included, as well as the Salteens' enjoyable "Time You Have Been Wasting", which concludes the CD.
Over the past year, Boompa has put out excellent records by those Lucksmiths, Sekiden, Run Chico
Run, Matt Sharp, and Billy & the Lost Boys, and with new albums by The Ladies and Gentlemen and
Natasha Thirsk on deck for 2005, there's even more reason to get excited. One listen to this very
winning compilation will not only compel listeners to immediately put it into your regular rotation
of CDs, but most importantly, it'll also show many people who don't know Boompa from a hole in the
ground, just how rich in talent this young label is.
— 17 November 2004
