Boom Pam

This debut from Boom Pam is filled with magical surf guitars from Tel Aviv kicked by tuba and drums on an ecstatic Mediterranean spicy Balkan trip! Forget the daily headlines and immerse yourself in Tel Aviv's vibrant music scene. If there's a sound you can't find here in this offbeat Mediterranean metropolis, it probably doesn't exist. The music brewed up by the Boom Pam four is the acoustic equivalent of a high-energy drink. They already have a cult following in the Middle East, and now they have wowed European audiences in their gigs with Shantel at his Bucovina Club in Berlin, Frankfurt and Zurich. This CD, released worldwide exclusively on the Essay label, marks their recording debut. It is hard to categorize their music. So maybe we should invent a new category for Middle Eastern surf rock with a pinch of Balkan, a touch of irreverence and a lot of groove. Along with their two surf guitars, minimalist percussion and distinctive tuba comes a unique blend of Mediterranean, Balkan and Greek styles, sweetened with Jewish melodies and fattened up with cinematic circus music. The musicians are fed up with the klezmer cliche that still tends to be associated with Jewish music. "Nobody listens to klezmer," they say in unison. "Klezmer is the stuff that's sold in airport shops as 'the music of Israel.' Well, there is usually some klezmer in it, but that really isn't what's happening here -- that's what's popular outside Israel, but it isn't what's happening here. And there's a lot happening here."