Guitars, Drums, Tones, and Saxophones

Screeching Weasel - Boogadaboogadaboogada

Here we are again; it’s Thursday, and we’re going to talk about yet another album from a Chicago band that’s near and dead to my heart. Yes, it’s part  4 of Chicago Week, and today I’m gonna look at Screeching Weasel’s classic Boogadaboogadaboogada.

Screeching Weasel are longtime heroes of the Chicago pop-punk scene. Regardless of how you might feel about frontman Ben Weasel (many are not fans of the man), it’s hard to ignore the contributions they’ve made to the scene. Their first truly notable album was the sophomore effort, Boogadaboogadaboogada. The album features a blistering 26 songs. Before you get daunted, remember, this is punk rock. If you’re curious, the length of the entire album is 41 minutes and change. One song, “We Skate,” is 16 seconds long. So despite the large number of songs, the album isn’t all that much longer than other albums. Unless the only other album you own is Group Sex by the Circle Jerks.

First thing fans of the band’s later material (My Brain Hurts and after) will notice is that the music here is much faster than they would play later. This record owes more to hardcore than the extreme Ramones influence they would exhibit later in their careers. They also seem more willing to, or rather like they are trying to, piss people off. Anyone, really; one can imagine Chicago classic rock fans not taking kindly to the sentiments expressed on “I Hate Led Zepplin:”  “”Stairway to Heaven” makes me see red/Bonzo’s buried, only three more left.” Also under the gun are the more political-minded in the audience, on the intentionally-misspelled “Nicarauga;” in current pressings of the album, after the lyrics (which end with the line “I don’t give a fuck about Nicaragua”) the line “that’s why I spelled it wrong” is included.

But the music isn’t all baiting various interest groups. Songs like “My Right” and “Dingbat” would go down as classics, particularly the former, and givs the listener a glimpse of where the band would end up taking its career; the song is slower than most of the raging tempos on the album, more tuneful, and has lyrics that any even slightly rebellious teenager would love to scrawl on book covers and notebooks.

Boogadaboogadaboogada really put Screeching Weasel on the map, and it’s easy to see why; a multitude of great songs played with fury and conviction.

Tags: screeching weasel