Boss Martians - The Set Up

  by Dave Toynton

published: 16 / 1 / 2005

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Review

Seattle act the Boss Martians recently toured Europe for the first time. I caught their London show. It had such energy and power that I was very keen to hear this , their fifth and latest album. It was not a disappointment. For me this is new wave at its very best. The first track on the album, 'I Wanna Be Your Addiction' recalls the Undertones, but early Elvis Costello and the Attractions seems to be an even stronger influence. Songs like 'Kill My Telephone'. 'Run and Hide' and 'Oh Angela' could all have come straight off his 1978 album. 'This Year's Model'. The latter track I can't stop playing. It is such a really strong love ballad that you can imagine Elvis Costello being green with envy at not having written it and having put it back then in the Top 10. The Boss Martians are by no means, however, just another punk band. Their brand of new wave is something you don’t hear a lot of . Frontman Evan Foster has some really vibrant guitar rifrs working through the album. Nick C on keyboards meanwhile helps to give the band a further stamp of indviduality and authority. Songs like 'I am the Radio', 'Walk Away and 'Opportunistic Girl' all have their own sound hard fast punk stuff. This is a marvellous album. I am looking to doing a bit of back cataloguing with the Boss Martians. Go and get 'The Set Up' and I am sure that you will want to do likewise.

Track Listing:-

1 I Wanna Be Your Addiction
2 Kill My Telephone
3 I Am Your Radio
4 Walk Away
5 Oh, Angela
6 He'll Be Around
7 Opportunistic Girl
8 Never Let It Happen Again
9 Run and Hide
10 Looking for You
11 Stress Case
12 Vows
13 The Set-Up