The Boo Radleys are hard to categorize – they touched on shoegaze and Britpop, but didn’t quite fit neatly into either genre. They forged their own path in the 1990s, making both smart and questionable decisions along the way. Now, the big question is whether their new single is a hit or a miss.
The band’s latest song, “Bring Them Back Again,” and all their music released since 2021, doesn’t feature their original guitarist and songwriter, Martin Carr. After a 20-year split, The Boo Radleys reunited in the early 2020s with three original members: Simon Rowbottom, Tim Brown, and Rob Cieka.
Since releasing their two studio albums, Keep on with Falling and Eight, the band hasn’t had any chart success. But that doesn’t mean the albums weren’t good. It’s possible some fans were disappointed to see Carr leave the group, and that affected how well the albums did.
Boo Radleys new single is, well…meh
Rumor has it the band asked Carr to rejoin, but they’d already started making plans for what came next. The dynamics between the members had probably changed a lot over the two decades since the 1990s. The big question, though, was whether the music would be as good without him?
“Bring Them Back Again” features a guitar sound reminiscent of Johnny Marr’s signature style, and its bridge section echoes the energy of Adam Ant’s “Stand and Deliver.” The vocals are decent, but feel a little understated in the mix.
Around two minutes in, the song features a lush, harmonized section that sounds like something from a Disney movie, and it goes on for nearly half a minute. It feels like the band tried to make the song longer, but this section wasn’t necessary and actually detracts from the overall experience.
This section feels out of place and disrupts the flow, even though the sound itself isn’t unpleasant. It just doesn’t quite match the rest of the piece.
The Boo Radleys’ upcoming album, In Spite of Everything, comes out on May 1st. Based on the first single, the album seems to offer pleasant but ultimately unremarkable songs. It leaves you questioning whether Martin Carr can still revitalize the band’s sound.
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2026-03-31 17:00