Boom Pam

Album Review

As the story goes, Dick Dale helped invent surf music by borrowing from traditional Middle Eastern melodies thanks to his Lebanese dad. Boom Pam, located down the coast in Tel Aviv, help bring it all back around, showing themselves to be one of those spirited "try anything once" groups in the vein of such legends as Mano Negra and Babasónicos. But groups like Croatia's Bambi M******rs would be a closer comparison, combining their love of surf with Eastern European as well as Mediterranean styles and creating a unique new stew. The killer ace in the hole for Boom Pam is a slightly unexpected instrument — tuba — which can get a bad rap in the States for its ungainly size and association with bad high school marching bands. But Yuval "Tuby" Zolotov rocks on that thing, providing the hyperspeed basslines that drummer Dudu Kohav matches, on top of which guitarist/singers Uzi Feinerman and Uri Brauner Kinrot go to town. One could easily imagine Mike Patton wanting to recruit these guys for a backing tour just because they have all the freneticism and skill needed to do the goods. One song aside, all the tunes are originals (the one cover being "Gross," a traditional number that sounds like a groovy self-playing home organ instrumental from the late '60s reclaimed and powered up); while specific lyrics are the exception rather than the rule, the singing on songs like "Otto Chiconi" and the saucy "Let Me Touch" is strong and vibrant, suiting the music. Some moments are so great that to describe them removes the charm, but hearing things like the crystalline guitar breaks on "Souvlaki #3" and the brawling tuba kick on "Dalida" is just wondrous. Smoother songs like "Weijl" and "Love Song" cut back the tempos for an equally good time for the slow dances. [The 2006 edition features two bonus tracks and one music video.]