Fill Your Cup and Raise It To The Sky--BUM--Wanna Smash Sensation!!!

Wanna Smash Sensation is one hell of a pop punk album. If that genre is your thing, BUM should be your new favorite old band. This is the only music by BUM that I know of that is easily available. This album came out in 1993, just before Green Day broke out with their game changing album Dookie. When I listen to Wanna Smash Sensation! I can't help but think that they should have had similar success, as their music is pretty comparable to Green Day and other bands on the Lookout! label. The album is that good, folks.

BUM were a four piece band from Victoria, British Columbia. They featured Rob Nesbitt and Andrew Malloy on vocals and guitar, Kevin Lee on Bass and vocals, and Graham Watson on drums. Wanna Smash Sensation! was produced and engineered by Kurt Bloch of Fastbacks fame and was released on the Popllama label. From top to bottom, this album is a pop-punk classic album. It is less Ramonesy than other bands in the genre. They remind me of bands like the Buzzcocks, Replacements, and Redd Kross. Maybe even The Knack. Tremendous harmonies on this. Definitely one of the great Canadian albums out there. The only thing I don't like about this album are the verses of I'm Not One, which sound way too much like the Who's Won't Get Fooled Again.



I Am Superwoman lineup--Note: Drummer from different mother


Wanna Smash Sensation! starts out promisingly with Debbiespeak, a song about arguing in relationships. Most of the songs are about everyday life and its difficulties. By the fifth song you will be absolutely hooked. This album is a must own for any punk collection. Grade A material. Great songs include Wedding Day, A Promise Is A Promise, I Hardly Breathe, At The Well, the brief  but exhilarating When She Walked. There is even a ska punkish song, Bent On Being Bent with revved up horns. I wish I knew more about these guys--they have a live album (Shaketown) and another Cd out (I Am Superwoman) and a bunch of singles. I can't imagine they are easy to get a hold of. I am trying to find out what happened to these guys after they broke up, but I am not finding much. It's too bad, kind of puzzling, judging by the greatness I hear on this disc.