Boomtown

Day 3 of "ripped from the vinyl" week continues with a couple of killer tracks from David + David's one and only 1986 album Boomtown...

One of my musical guilty pleasures is the occasional dose of good old classic American FM rock. I love Steve Miller and Tom Petty, Steely Dan and The Eagles - hell, I even own a couple of Don Henley albums! When David Baerwald and David Ricketts' debut single Welcome To the Boomtown hit the radio I knew I had to have it. A slightly different take on the classic rock thing, this was slickly played and produced rock music, but with a gritty edge to it. The songs were dark and moody, about sex, love, alchohol and drugs. Boomtown reeks of the seedy side of LA, of shattered dreams coming to a tragic end. The lyrics are backed up by one gloriously moody track, with atmospheric keys and the metallic clank of the beat. Several of the tunes make good use of vaguely funky ryhthms, and the duo were unafraid to use keys to embellish, usually in a way that compliments the overall vibe. Check the funky groove of A Rock For The Forgotten, another tale of sad barflys, but with a buoyant, empathetic backing track. While listening to this the other day I was amazed at how good it still sounds, and how it's too bad that they never put out another record. Baerwald has done solo work, but is best known for kickstarting Sheryl Crow's career on the Tuesday Night Music Club album which he co-wrote a bunch of. Some people might curse him for that, but I like that record too!