Staff Reviews

Swanton Bombs - Mumbo Jumbo and Murder

Review by Simon Jay Catling

The pair work best when they don’t have to think too much, and for the most of Mumbo Jumbo and Murder they don’t, throwing themselves into their gruff clamour with relish.»

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if, light years from now, people ever want a snapshot of youth and young manhood in 2010, they could look no further than swanton bombs, who release the gloriously titled new album 'mumbo jumbo and murder'. to listen to their music is to experience vicariously the reckless thrills and irrepressible energy of a new generation, distilled to its rawest, untainted, unvarnished essence. despite their tender ages - singer / guitarist dominic mcguinness and drummer brendan heaney are both only 20 - swanton bombs show a remarkable facility in assimilating influences belying their age group (they count everyone from the clash to tom waits to the strokes as influences), while also hardwiring them to a stomp and swagger entirely their own. the album's opening track, the loose-limbed blues punk crash of 'swanton bombs' sets their stall perfectly, a delirious, ramshackle instrumental somehow conjuring up the spirits of both the ramones and richard hell.
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