Review: Electric Boys – Grand Explosivos

Mighty Music (September 15th 2023)

Reviewer: Dan Mann

I’ve listened to ‘Grand Explosivos‘ plenty of times over the last few weeks. Well of course you have I hear you cry, you need to in order to review it! That alas is not the reason. The real reason is that every time I play it, I’m hoping for some sort of spark, something to grab me and I can realise that this is a great album, a new favourite.

Now don’t get me wrong, ‘Grand Explosivos‘ isn’t a bad album by any means and I’m certainly glad that those Electric Boys are still releasing new music. The fundamental issue for me is it’s not ‘Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride‘ or ‘Groovus Maximus‘ for that matter. Well of course it isn’t, bands evolve and change. However, in doing so the Electric Boys have lost the very thing that grabbed me and made me a fan 34 years ago. In fact even now when I play my vinyl copy of ‘Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride‘ I still get that same buzz, but with ‘Grand Explosivos‘ it all sounds far too safe, even samey to some degree.

The fact I’ve kept going back to play it again shows that I didn’t want to give up on it too easily, I wanted to give the album a decent chance, hoping that it would be one of those slow growers, that I’d somehow get an epiphany and all would be well.

Of course you may feel on listening to ‘Grand Explosivos‘ yourself that I’m completely wrong and an idiot. But therein lies the beauty of music and musical taste. There is no right or wrong, there’s only what you like that matters.

Tracklist:

1. When Life Treats You Funky
2. Better Safe Than Sober
3. I’ve Got A Feelin’
4. And The Band Played On (Part 1)
5. Domestic Blitz
6. Karma’s Gonna Get You
7. Missed Her By A Minute
8. Learjet
9. Cozmic Jagger
10. The Great Believer
11. And The Band Played On (Part 2)