Boozewa - "Bon Vivant"
Boozewa is a three-piece band from Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Their sound resides somewhere among the realms of grunge, noise rock, and sludge for the most part, but there are plenty of nods to doom metal, punk, and alternative rock lurking about as well. This creates a sound and a vibe that encompasses all of the types of music many of us spent our formative years blasting into our ears and minds (and we turned out just fine!). My favorite way to describe Boozewa is with the band's own incredibly apt definition: "the Valium version of The Pixies and Sonic Youth."
Boozewa grew from the seeds of another band you may have heard of, Backwoods Payback (you can read my review of their album Future Slum here). In fact, Boozewa contains 2/3 of Backwoods Payback's members, Michael Rudolph Cummings and Jessica Baker. Like many fans, I found myself enamored with Backwoods Payback's ballsy, honest, and melancholic tunes, inevitably leading me to their offshoot, Boozewa. In comparison, Boozewa's sound has a tendency to be darker, relying less on the brashness of punk and metal influences and more on brooding alternative/garage rock. I probably don't have to tell you that this is something that I find equally enjoyable, just in a different way.
Boozewa released an EP called Developing Good Health in 2021. Since then, drummer/vocalist Michael Rudolph Cummings released a solo album and a subsequent tour. Now, in 2024, Boozewa's first full-length album, Bon Vivant, will see the light of day on July 9.
To give you an idea of what to expect, let's get into Bon Vivant track-by-track:
Bon Vivant
1. What?!
A mostly instrumental, thick, heavy, intro that sets the stage for some intense sound and feelings.
2. Maybe I'm A Bird
First off, I'm so glad to see Maybe I'm A Bird on this album! This song has been on heavy rotation for me since I learned of its existence at the beginning of this year.
According to the band, this song is about a situation most of us can relate to:
"Every day you have to go to work and there's that one person there. That one person that's always giving you a hard time. Always with the stink eye, checking their watch to see if you were a minute late. We all know them. They are everywhere. When you see them tomorrow, make eye contact with them. Don't break it. And let them know "HEY! You don't know me. Maybe I'm a bird!"
After my own heart.
This is a tactic I like to employ in my own life; it's always fun and downright entertaining to watch someone squirm as I show them just how weird and uncomfortable I can make things when pushed. It's like asserting your dominance...for eccentric people.
Of course, this backstory combined with the hypnotic sound of the garage rock riff and bass line will have you drawn in, ready to release your own brand of crazy at the next opportunity. In fact, the sum of this song's parts scream, "Try me." If you're not chanting, "Maybe I'm a bird!" along with the band as the song ends, go back and try again.
3. Last Splash
Is that title a nod to the song Cannonball by The Breeders? I kinda hope it is!
This song is even more bewitching and trance-inducing than Maybe I'm a Bird, taking the listener on a moody journey of a few parts. Last Splash begins with bare bones: a rather saturnine riff, a soothing but guarded vocal, and a bit of percussion before evolving into a gravelly, low rumble with the addition of the bass. The song slows down again, leading up to a monstrous trudge that takes us into the delightfully chaotic last twenty seconds of the song, like a crack of lightning after ominous thunder. Last Splash is brooding in tone, rife with influences of dark alternative rock and doom metal, its composition combining the two in a powerful way. Like all Boozewa songs, Last Splash is a mood, but this one is heavy; I could really feel it in my soul.
4. Crown Molding
Crown Molding is an instrumental track that builds upon a spiraling riff, exponentially increasing in intensity as the song progresses. It's a weighty take on heavy psych, deliciously dark.
5. On My Sleeve
This short, two-and-a-half-minute track has a lot going on, a quality for which I absolutely love it. Based upon the opening riff, you'd think that On My Sleeve is going to have a dreamier vibe, in the vein of some of the more popular Smashing Pumpkins or Pixies tunes, but that just wouldn't be Boozewa (something I love about the band)! On My Sleeve's vocals and instrumentals quickly grow more gruff, ragged, and lumbering before the song abruptly ends. It's a song that's somehow both pessimistic and hopeful, and I guess that the combination of those two things would be realism. Sounds about right.
6. Forward Never Straight
This is another instrumental interlude, rather tragic in sound. It reminds me a bit of a stormy, bleak day when you're already down, insult to injury, perhaps even hopelessness and despair, perfectly executed in music form.
7. IMO
IMO delves into hardcore territory with instrumentals, vocals, and attitude. The lyrics are simple at face value, the verses listing off numerous qualities disliked about someone (their nose, clothes, car, etc), before shrieking, "I don't like you...not at all!" Now, I could be reaching, or just plain wrong, but I actually view this song as a mockery of shallowness to a degree - the deriding tone acting out a parody of self-righteous society.
8. Belly Full Of Burnt Dinner
First of all, I have to point out that I love this song title. It's a mood. Are there many things in life that are more of a let down than an inedible dinner? But maybe it's all you have or you don't feel like making or buying something else, don't want to be wasteful, or are just too apathetic, so you eat it anyway? Then, it kinda kills the mood for the rest of your night and you inevitably go to bed a bit sad. Man...I feel that.
Conversely, the song itself is less depressing than a burnt dinner, but has an apprehensive tone overall, reminiscent of dread and anxiousness.
9. Cali
Cali is a primarily instrumental song, unlike anything I've ever heard from Boozewa or Backwoods Payback before. It begins with and maintains gorgeous, haunting female vocalizations and a Middle Eastern flair. While the style is certainly a surprise, it's not an unwelcome one. This little two-and-a-half-minute song is quite the mesmeric, meditative way to wrap up the album, providing an opportunity for pause and contemplation.
Final Thoughts
Bon Vivant is, without a doubt, Boozewa's most sophisticated work to date. This applies not only to the style, sound, variety, and vocal/instrumental techniques used, but I found the album to dig a little deeper in general, going bolder emotionally. Boozewa has always had a "darker" sound, but I think that quality is applied a little more skillfully here, with greater intent. The result is an album that genuinely resonates with the listener, a familiar experience that you can feel.
More specifically, Boozewa's songs often sound like exactly what could be going on in your brain during very specific times; usually the bad, frustrating, or sad times. This isn't a buzzkill; it's awesome in that the band very accurately illustrates these moods and has the balls to go all out with it. They boldy wear their (tattered) hearts on their sleeves, knowing it might get a bit uncomfortable at times. In fact, when you think about it, those dark times are the ones that really shape who we become, for better or for worse.
In Boozewa's music, I hear depression, anguish, anger, fear, anxiety, annoyance, honesty, perseverance, and cautious optimism to name a few...very specific feelings I can easily pick out and relate to my own life experience. This is my very favorite thing about music: its ability to strike a chord emotionally with listeners, creating important, valuable connections between musicians, composers/lyricists, and their fans. Bon Vivant accomplishes this exceptionally well, reaching down deep and delivering a raw, candid portrait of the human experience.
More About Boozewa
Boozewa Is:
Michael Rudolph Cummings - Drums, Vocals
Jessica Baker - Bass, Vocals
Rylan Caspar - Guitar, Vocals
You can follow Boozewa and check out their music at the following links:
A massive thank you to Boozewa for sharing the album with me!
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