30 Days, 30 Albums - How I Became the Bomb

I should be filing this post under a new category called "It's About Damn Time, Janet." I FINALLY made it out to see local buzz band How I Became the Bomb a little over a week ago - months after the group started generating hype around town as the next big thing.  I'm always a little nervous about seeing a band when my expectations have been forcibly pushed skyward - it feels a little like I'm the last one going to see the new "funniest movie EVER" and of course I'll be nothing but disappointed.  But when How I Became the Bomb took the stage at the Mercy Lounge that night, the circumstances couldn't have been more perfect, and something about the band just felt right.

It actually reminded me of the first time I saw the Features, three years ago and a few months after I moved to town.  Like the Features, I had heard only wonderful things about How I Became the Bomb.  Like Exit/In, the Mercy Lounge was just packed with adoring, happy fans.  I know I like to write about the audience at concerts and how they can affect your perception of a band and your enjoyment of the show, but it has to be said again - there's something completely contagious about a happy crowd.  And HIBTB (sorry, this will go more quickly if I abbreviate) fans, from where I was in the audience anyway, reminded me of the Features fans I saw at that first show - they knew all the words, they danced and sang along and knew when to clap and when to yell.  It left me feeling a little out of the loop, but like the loop was certainly big enough to include me.  In a town that I sometimes fear is filled with apathetic concert attendees (judging by the regulars at many of the venues I frequent), it's an amazing thing to look around a room and see smiling faces.  Then you just can't help but smile too.

And the music?  I'm happy to say you don't need a few beers and a room full of dancing fans to enjoy what HIBTB has to offer.  The band's seven song mini-album, Let's Go!, is packed with song after impossibly catchy song - from the bouncy "Secret Identity" (the one song I knew ahead of time, and I kept thinking they were playing it) to the Nintendo-esque "Kneel Before Zod."  The whole things is just awesome and synth-y and fun.  Enjoy:

"Secret Identity"
"Bar Song"

Go ahead and pick up Let's Go!, and befriend the band on Myspace.  And I highly, highly recommend checking them out live if you get the chance.

Comments

[Glenn]

I wish they played more often. I've seen them only once.