Nashville Music Blog

​We live in interesting times, friends. We get to witness first hand the demise of the Music Industry and its reign of havoc on modern art. We get to see brave new acts like our own How I Became the Bomb left with no choice but to undermine the music biz's long-standing, antiquated business model with experiments in marketing such as the one they've spent the year on thus far. After releasing a series of four digital EPs, the band has compiled them all and then some into their first full-length, Deadly Art, celebrating its release Saturday night at Mercy Lounge.

We arrived to see that all stops had been pulled in honor of the occasion: additional lights onstage, and two gigantic screens stationed on either side of it. Unfortunately, we arrived just too late to see how opening act Zut Alors made use of this extra gear, but were just in time to see Kyle Andrews crank out his signature pop rock hooks with a little extra pizazz. Andrews narrowly avoids the bland first-name-last-name Nashville songwriter cliche (even more important now that he's been added to the Ten out of Tenn tour) by peppering his jams with playful electro beats, new wave synths, and amped-up guitars. The highlight of his set was also the highlight of his latest Real Blasty, the contagiously catchy feel good hit of the summer, "Sushi."

By this point, we'd definitely seen Mercy more packed, but it still wasn't a bad thing. There were plenty enough folks to make this night a success and still leave enough elbow room to maneuver from one side of the venue to the other without stepping on any toes. Anticipation reached its peak as the headliners came strolling out on stage, their foggy silhouettes illuminated by brilliant green lasers and swirling, gleaming hues of colored light.

While the Bomb has made a name for themselves sporting elaborate costumes and tailored outfits, they played it low key this time in the wardrobe department. Clothes and stage aesthetics aside, fans soon got what they really came for: an extended dose of geeky pop and anxious indie twang served up with equal parts wit and irreverence while the massive video displays on either side of the stage screened a collage of vintage sci-fi footage. A track-by-track sing-a-long of songs both old and new ensued courtesy of an enthusiastic audience, and tracks like the dance-tastic "A Formal Occasion" and "Blood Will Tell" were all the more epic thanks to the enhanced backdrop. The event assured us well that even after the music industry finishes its slow and painful expiration, music itself will stay strong forever.