The Boojums: The Boojums [Album Review]

The Boojums
The Boojums
We Are Busy Bodies/Having Fun Records [2025]

“Unpretentious, loud, and gloriously human — The Boojums deliver a no-filter debut bursting with grit, melody, and small-town heart.”

Album Overview: Hailing from Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, The Boojums formed in late 2024 and wasted no time making noise. Their grainy, VHS-filmed live videos lit up Reddit, Instagram, and YouTube, capturing the chaotic joy of a band built on sweat, volume, and real connection. What started as small-town shows quickly grew into word-of-mouth legend, fueled by a shared love of imperfection and community. Guitarist/vocalist Willie Stratton, bassist/vocalist Sara Johnston, and drummer/vocalist Patrick Murphy channel a classic DIY spirit—playing loud, laughing louder, and keeping it all gloriously unpolished.

The Boojums feels like an invitation to that same garage where it all began—sweaty, spontaneous, and unapologetically human. Recorded live off the floor, the album pulses with the energy of three friends chasing the same spark. Its songs wrestle with love, escape, heartbreak, and the gravitational pull of home. Beneath all the fuzz and feedback, there’s a clarity of purpose: to make music that’s real, alive, and loud enough to believe in.

Musical Style: The Boojums stitch together decades of rock history into something raw and immediate. Their sound slams between hook-heavy power-pop and gritty garage punch, with flashes of punk attitude and alt-rock swagger. Expect pounding drums, growling basslines, and guitars that burst with personality. Every track feels alive—full of claps, shout-along moments, and melodies that refuse to sit still. It’s the kind of record that makes imperfection feel like a superpower.

Evolution of Sound: Though it’s their debut, The Boojums sounds like the work of a band that’s lived a lot already. From their early surfy demos to the more muscular, layered cuts here, the trio has learned how to balance chaos with craft. Recording live was the right call—it captures their chemistry perfectly: three players locked in, daring each other to go louder, faster, freer. It’s a confident first step that already hints at bigger, wilder things to come.

Artists with Similar Fire: Think The Hives colliding with Cloud Nothings, with a side of Ty Segall’s scuzz and The Bug Club’s wit. There’s also a touch of The Gaslight Anthem’s heartland grit, reimagined through a salt-air Atlantic lens. The Boojums bottle punk urgency with the sing-along rush of power-pop—somewhere between the garage and the big stage.

Pivotal Tracks: “Outta My Head” kicks the record wide open as Stratton calls out, “Everybody clap your hands,” and the energy explodes. “Wings of Fire” rides a road-ready groove that feels both nostalgic and new. “Stick Together” glows with open-hearted charm, all chiming guitars and unguarded emotion. “Burnin’ Up” hits a fever pitch—part Brian Fallon, part “Sex on Fire”—a smoldering rocker built for headlights and midnight highways. “Do Ya Like It” brings humor and edge, turning self-doubt into a fist-pumping hook. “Garden of the Sons” swings heavier, pairing dystopian imagery (think Metropolis) with thunderous riffs. “Football” nods to Springsteen’s storytelling grit, using the game as a metaphor for choices and chances. And “Dan’s Transmission,” sung by Johnston, is an album showstopper—her voice soaring over a cinematic rhythm, transforming reflections on Halifax’s shifting skyline into something timeless.

Lyrical Strength: The Boojums’ lyrics cut through the noise with honesty and vivid imagery. Stratton’s writing moves between motion and reflection—searching for love, purpose, and escape without losing sight of the dirt under his boots. These songs capture real moments: the rush of a ride, the weight of goodbye, the absurd humor of trying to figure life out. It’s storytelling grounded in lived experience, and that authenticity gives The Boojums both its bite and its heart.

Final Groove: The Boojums is one of those rare debuts that already feels lived-in—a full-throttle, heart-on-sleeve statement from a band that’s not interested in filters or faking it. Every song lands with urgency, charm, and grit. It’s rock ’n’ roll the way it’s meant to be: human, loud, and a little bit unhinged. If this is where they’re starting, the next chapter should come with a warning label—because The Boojums are just getting warmed up.

THE BOOJUMS LINKS
Instagram | Bandcamp | We Are Busy Bodies | Having Fun Records