Sam and the Womp – ‘Bom Bom’

There’s always at least one song released each summer that divides the nation. Its type is well known: annoyingly catchy and just a bit too crazy to enjoy (or at least not “ironically”).

Under normal circumstances, most people are incredibly British about the whole thing. “Oh, cheesy Euro-pop with accordions and dancing pineapples? I couldn’t possibly. I’ll be over here propping up the bar and looking deeply unimpressed.” Send the same people to any popular holiday destination and you will no doubt find them dancing on the bar yelling about how it’s the “BEST SONG EVER!” Nevertheless, these songs usually find a way to worm themselves into the charts, where they will be played again and again and again until even the most enthusiastic of fans has to fight the urge to throw the radio out of the window.

This year the relatively unknown Sam and the Womp’s ‘Bom Bom’ could well be it. Already being channelled as the soundtrack of the summer, Radio 1 has been championing this little piece of musical mastery with the enthusiasm that either comes from genuine love or a rather large financial reward. They describe themselves as performing “original high energy balkan, ska, dub and rave out material with a huge WOMP of gypsy dubstep for pudding.” Sounds delicious. But the proof of this pudding is in the, er, listening – and it’s a shame to say it leaves a bit of a nasty aftertaste.

After reading the band description , you might expect that they bring something a bit different to the dance music scene. Let’s just say that “gypsy dubstep” isn’t to everyone’s taste, as the general theme to the musical stylings seems to be the Macarena via Fedde le Grand. Yes, it’s cheerful and the video is quite entertaining – who doesn’t enjoy strangely dressed characters bouncing around like Tigger on speed – it’s just that after about 30 seconds the sheer catchiness gets really really annoying. Not to mention the fact that 5 hours later, it’s still on loop in the back of your mind.

Whilst in the dreariness of the UK it’s all a bit too much, it’s the perfect holiday anthem: overly repetitive, lyrics added for effect rather than substance and a riff that will stick in your head for at least a week. Oh, and of course, best listened to drunk.