JunkFunk / Baasje’s Mood by Shoom
Dwelling somewhere between the realms of jazz, punk and neo-soul Shoom have emerged once again, bearing their latest two track single of instrumental bombardment upon their avid fans and unexpected listeners. This Dutch five piece merge the melodic complexities of hard bop jazz with the fast paced carnage of punk and the dramatism of classical music together, creating a portrait of tumultuous rhythms, temperamental dynamics and whimsical harmonics.
Following on from their previous single release in October 2024 JunkFunk / Baasje’s Mood is the bands push forward into more radical arrangements and enigmatic sonic construction. While not straying too far from their core sound, Shoom edge ever closer to the presaphis of bewilderment by experimenting with unconventional song form and structure, as well as testing the limits of their musicianship.
FunkJunk breathes the fast paced chaotic nature of Shoom’s live shows, along with their amplified theatrics brought on by the band's intelligent use of dynamics. Through its driving rhythms and limit pushing tempo it’s next to impossible not to move when hearing this song, while the lead saxophone part sticks in the head and becomes like an itch you probably shouldn’t play with yet can't resist. I for one found myself chirping it around the house for the rest of the evening upon the first listen; which speaks volumes of its irritating catchyness. Although the song has the melodic and harmonic mechanics of jazz it's hard not to see the slight resemblance FunkJunk has to forms of dance music, especially with the melodramatic build up which leads to a gut wrenching descent into negative harmony as the songs climax.
Baasje’s Mood is cut with a slightly smoother edge then its neighbouring track, seeing a slightly more stable harmonic structure and downtempo rhythmic movement. The drums work wonders on this track by pulling the arrangement along while the dissonant bass line stirs up tension with the conflicting melodies above. Getting caught up in the stop-start motion of this song is what makes listening to this track so fun, with the band making great use of the anticipation created with playful rhythmic and melodic clashes, whose sound can only be resembled to stumbling down a flight of stairs. After all the chaos, drama and comedy of these two tracks Baasje’s Mood’s silky smooth outro is euphoric to the ears with the saxophone riffing in a glorious fashion over a bed of rich harmonic movement and shimmering percusives.
It doesn’t take much to see that what Shoom do might not be to everyone's taste with their exaggerated song forms and experimental use of melody and harmony. However, for those into more alternative and off beat genres of music FunkJunk and Baasje’s Mood are two great introductions to the chaos, madness and genius of this presumptuous Dutch five piece who are on the rise to shock audiences worldwide.
