boomchick

The Oak Street Speakeasy is hopping this week with two local CD release shows, one of which is part of the November Grrrlz Rock! series.

Boomchick is a veteran Grrrlz Rock! band. Its leader, Suzanne Benorden, is a vocal supporter of the series, which puts female musicians into the spotlight and gives their bands more opportunities to play.

“Grrrlz Rock! has really lit a fire under the music scene here, in my opinion,” Benorden says in a news release. “Even when it has sparked controversy, it has still gotten more people out playing, interacting, listening to and seeing local art on a bigger scale.”

The title of the new Boomchick album, “Joyland,” comes from an amusement park in Kansas that had a big impact on two members of the group: Benorden and her cousin Tom Thompson.

“Joyland” the album offers quite a few melodies that are likely to buzz around in your head for days after you first hear them. But it’s the CD’s many contrasts that will keep people coming back.

The punkabilly group’s album both belies its members’ gritty life experiences and is evocative of more innocent times, perhaps slow dancing under sea-foam-green decorations at a school dance.

“With Any Chance” is the knockout track, and Benorden’s best vocal performance on the project.

The verses have Benorden belting out long notes, with a heartbeat of a bass line in the background. Her lyrics describe what she needs from her lover, and they are accented occasionally by male harmony vocals.

Several times in the song, the drums get more aggressive. The combined effect is to take you into her heart then shake you around a bit by the collar (in the most playful way of course).

If rockers are more your style, this won’t be your favorite song, with its mellower, almost psychedelic guitar work. But there are no shortage of other tracks that would be fun to dance to at a live show.

The title track is a montage of memories from the park. Lines such as “cats must fall off backwards” would sound surrealistic outside of their literal context of an amusement park game — and even then, you wonder if there is hidden meaning in the way Benorden sings the lines.

It’s a sweet and nostalgic tribute. In a news release promoting the album, the band says there is a movement back in Kansas to restore the park, which closed in 2003.

“Everyone from back home that we tell about the CD has a story about Joyland,” Benorden says in a release. “The place was magical, and we all share that memory.”

The overall effect of the contrasting sounds and emotions jerks you up and down, making the cliché roller-coaster metaphor more fitting than it usually is.

The music starts at 9 p.m. Saturday with Demimonde Slumber Party, followed Bajuana Tea, Boomchick and Station Wag.

The evening also includes a visit and a video from the Emerald City Roller Girls. - Eugene Register-Guard

Not Just Any (Boom) Chick

What’s in a name? Boomchick. Is it the sound of the bass drum followed by snare? Is it the galloping boom-chicka-boom-chicka sound innovated by Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Two? Or is it something else? Perhaps it’s an attitude. An ethic. A Boomchick knows what she wants. She works hard and she plays hard. She drinks hard and she loves hard.

Eugene punkabilly outfit Boomchick is all these things. Frontwoman Suzanne Benorden makes like a tough customer on their current release Joyland, recorded and mixed in Eugene at Sprout City Studios. With the swagger of Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and the grit of Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano, she leads her band as they swerve dangerously through 13 tracks of boozey, gin-soaked rock and roll.

The album opens with the Rolling Stones-meets-Ramones-esque “TGTW,” a tight burst of energy that is easily the album’s strongest offering. The song is what Boomchick does best: fuzzed out power chords, a driving backbeat and a killer chorus that explodes into a screaming wall of guitars and harmony.

Boomchick celebrates the release of Joyland as part of this year’s Grrrlz Rock! festival with other local female-powered bands Demimonde Slumber Party and Station Wag, with a special appearance from the Emerald City Roller Girls, at 9 pm Saturday, Nov. 13, at the Oak Street Speakeasy. 21+. Free. — William Kennedy - Eugene Weekly

"It is not often that I can truly say that I'm this affected by a cd...but in this case I was actually completely captivated throughout the entire listening experience."

"...signature sound"
"...extremely tight"
- TAXI

"...flat out great tunes."

"...loads of character/originality" - TAXI

"Great song...You're right there in the mix with Uncle Tupelo, Frank Black, Lloyd Cole, and Juliana Hatfield. Hope you like your neighbors! :-)"
- mike

"award-winning singer/songwriter ...engaging lyrics and divine voice" - eugene public library

"brilliant cd"

dj comment - radiodirectx

"please, please, by all means hit this link so you'll realize how important it is to clear your calendar for thursday night, july 6: www.sonicbids.com/suzanne benorden"

"suzanne is a polished songwriter" - tom james

"please, please, by all means hit this link so you'll realize how important it is to clear your calendar for thursday night, july 6: www.sonicbids.com/suzanne benorden"

"suzanne is a polished songwriter" - tom james

This Eugene songwriter won the Willamette Valley Folk Festival’s New Song Competition in 2003 with her track “Never Let U Down.” Benorden smacks of a PJ Harvey-esque riot grrrl sensibility, but with Southern flair, which might come from her Kansas upbringing. And yet, when she sings her empowered lyrics in that throaty growl, it’s all rock and roll. 6 pm Saturday, Nov. 8, Cozmic Pizza. $6. — Sara Brickner - EW

This Eugene songwriter won the Willamette Valley Folk Festival’s New Song Competition in 2003 with her track “Never Let U Down.” Benorden smacks of a PJ Harvey-esque riot grrrl sensibility, but with Southern flair, which might come from her Kansas upbringing. And yet, when she sings her empowered lyrics in that throaty growl, it’s all rock and roll. 6 pm Saturday, Nov. 8, Cozmic Pizza. $6. — Sara Brickner - EW