Irish new wave rockers The Boomtown Rats will return in 2020 with their first new album in 36 years. Entitled Citizens of Boomtown, the 10-track effort is due out on March 13th via BMG.
The album features the lineup of Bob Geldof on vocals, Pete Briquette on bass, Simon Crowe on drums, and Garry Roberts on guitar. Briquette also served as producer.
The first single, “Trash Glam, Baby”, will be released on January 10th.
Update: Listen to the song
here.
To coincide with the album’s release, The Boomtown Rats will embark on a UK tour next spring. Additionally, Faber Music will publish a new book by Geldof entitled, Tales of Boomtown Glory, compiling the band’s lyrics, new stories penned by Geldof, and his archival notebooks. If all that weren’t enough, a new documentary film from Billy McGrath is also on the way.
In a statement, Geldof explained the genesis of the band’s new album: “So why a new record? “Because that’s what bands do. They make records. Songwriters write songs. There’s so much to respond to in this new and different febrile atmosphere that we live in. People forget we took our name from Woody Guthrie, the great musical activist. I think The Boomtown Rats have always shown that rock’n’roll is a form of musical activism. The music has intent and purpose even if that is just the sound, about boy/girl, nothing particularly at all, everything in general, or pointed polemical…. whatever.”
See the album’s tracklist and band’s upcoming tour dates below. You can find concert tickets
here.
Citizens of Boomtown Tracklist:
01. Trash Glam, Baby
02. Sweet Thing
03. Monster Monkeys
04. She Said No
05. Passing Through
06. Here’s A Postcard
07. K.I.S.S.
08. Rock ‘n’ Roll Yé Yé
09. Get A Grip
10. The Boomtown Rats