Pop bands of every shape, sound, and sort have dominated the British music scene for about the last twenty years. Some bands have become famous the world over while others were never awarded the opportunity to spread their musical love to other coasts.

One Liverpool band that never really got a fair shake is The Boo Radleys. The band arose out of the same musical landscape that gave the world My Bloody Valentine and Jesus & Mary Chain. The difference with this act is that from the get go, critics dismissed them as a second-tier shadow to those greater and more successful bands. But The Boo Radleys stuck it out from 1988 through 1999 and during those years managed to rack up a few pretty darned good albums.

They started their lives as a loud band, but as the 1990’s progressed the band grew to embrace a new, commercially friendly sound. The Boo Radleys were not well received for their debut album, Ichabod & I. Critics thought little more of their sophomore effort Everything’s Alright Forever. With 1993’s Giant Steps the band gained some confidence and ambitiously recorded an appealing rock and pop album. This album (along with some of the earlier songs) earned the four-man band a pretty decent following of fans.

Martin Carr (guitar, lyrics), Rob Cieka (drums), Sice (vocals, guitar), and Timothy Brown (bass) returned in 1995 with what would become their most positively reviewed album of their career. The Boo Radleys were obviously clear on what would sell and what would get played on radio, and as such they put together an upbeat, appealing pop-rock disc. And just as they’d probably expected, Wake Up! led to the band’s mainstream breakthrough with popular UK single Wake Up Boo!.

The band lasted just four or so years after the success of Wake Up!. In that time, The Boo Radleys lost their American record deal with Columbia. Soon thereafter, they were picked up by Mercury and released two more albums. Neither C’mon Kids nor Kingsize. C’mon Kids was a darker, more crazed piece specifically targeted at the band’s new pop audiences. The goal? Well, Carr’s songs were meant to scare the crap out of the kids. The album wasn’t as successful in part because of the strangeness. Kingsize (1998) on the other hand was just bad. The pop fans and earlier cult following were distinctly uninterested in the album.

The Boo Radleys probably didn’t want to be remembered as mere happy pop stars. Even considering their earlier, more experimental work the most memorably entertaining is (unfortunately for the band) 1995’s Wake Up!. It is a relaxed, bubbly, cheerful, and fantastically appealing piece of pure pop. What The Boo Radleys don’t do on this outing is impress with their creativity and innovative style on the whole, rather they entertain. Some more stressful days, entertainment is all the more listeners want and on that account the band does deliver in spades.

Wake Up! consists of twelve decently solid songs. Some near the level of excellent (at least in the context of the pop genre) while only a few are less than perfect. Of course the album does start on an extremely positive note with the popular single Wake Up Boo!. The barbershop harmonies of the first few seconds are a strange start, but once it really kicks in listeners will be keenly aware that there’s nothing old fashioned about The Boo Radleys. A light and summery song, a bold trumpet adds another dimension. But what really proves appealing about Wake Up Boo! is the memorable, hyperkinetic pace and melody. Even the words are easy to hear and sing along with, not to mention even a bit thought-provoking.

Wake up it's a beautiful morning
Feel the sun shining for your eyes
Wake up it's so beautiful
For what could be the very last time

With such an excellent start, The Boo Radleys could have taken a major turn for the worse. But Fairfax Scene is a suitable, soft bridge between faster songs. Sice’s vocals are soothing as are the melodies, not to mention the restrained guitars. Once It’s Lulu makes an entrance, the album again picks up pace. Handclapping, trumpets, electric guitars, and pounding drums make the song quite possibly my favorite. This is a song and an album meant for sunshine-bright afternoons.

My personal preference for The Boo Radleys without considering their other works is the upbeat, rather than introspective ballad pop. Songs like Joel, Reaching Out from Here, Martin, Doom! It’s Seven O’Clock, and 4am Conversation all take too long to do much of anything. The band, the vocals, the instruments, and everything else sound good. There are just a lot more entertaining and memorable tracks to experience. Unfortunately, the majority of these songs appear in the middle of the album, therefore there is a pretty hefty lull in Wake Up! that takes some time from which to recover.

Find The Answer Within fortunately kicks the pace back up. The Boo Radleys once again use a trumpet pretty openly, but also something very unexpected…a glockenspiel! Once again, the melody is infectious and the words are genuinely fun. Other tracks like Stuck on Amber, Charles Bukowski is Dead and Twinside also add nicely to the momentum of Wake Up!

There is just one song that is hard to categorize. Wilder is the piano-driven ending track, and as compared to the eleven others it is both different and refreshing. Basically a duet between the piano-playing Carr and Sice, it is a slow and sweet ballad. But where the other songs fail in their attempt to be emotionally relevant, Wilder soars. It’s not often that I stumble upon songs this perfect from every angle.

Wake Up! is a darned spiffy disc. There is some trouble in the midsection, but aside from that the songs are usually refreshingly fun and not at all self-conscious. The Boo Radley assembled (they did the production) an entertaining, sparkling album that Americans should have enjoyed as fully as the British. So, if you like similar acts ranging from Matthew Sweet to Semisonic and from Suede to Blur then you’d be best advised to also invest in a copy of Wake Up!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Track Listing:
01. Wake Up Boo!
02. Fairfax Scene
03. It’s Lulu
04. Joel
05. Find the Answer Within
06. Reaching Out from Here
07. Martin, Doom! It’s Seven O’Clock
08. Stuck on Amber
09. Charles Bukowski is Dead
10. 4am Coversation
11. Twinside
12. Wilder


Recommended: Yes