Indie Light

Starbomb is an American comedy music trio made up of Dan Avidan, Arin Hanson and Brian Wecht who respectively provide Vocals, Rapping Vocals and instrumentals. Starbomb is heavily influenced by the style and energy of Ninja Sex Party, the outfit which Avidan and Wecht perform in without Hanson, but focus the scope of their songs on video games and pop culture. I’ve covered the band previously and you can click here to check out more. Today, though, I’ll be reviewing their album ‘Boom: Rise of Lyrics’ which was released October 25th 2024.

‘Aw Damn, It’s A New Starbomb!’ opens with a fresh funky beat that blends in their typical introductory style with a self-aware lyricism that immediately endeared me to the album as a whole. 

‘Pokémon Smash Or Pass’ has a smoother, chiller beat than the introduction, and they blend in the beat, with Dan’s melodic vocals, and Arin’s more bombastic delivery for maximum effect. That being said I’ve always enjoyed Arin as a vocalist and his vocal contributions throughout these albums have always been a highlight. 

‘Nintendo Online’s Greatest Announcement’ I liked the energy of this one, the whispers counterpointing the fast delivery and overall pace. Hopefully this won’t make me sound like a music philistine or what have you but something about the almost heavy trap vibe of the track makes me think of the theme song to Danny Phantom. I genuinely loved this song, much like their early stuff it’s a genuine love letter to gaming (real or imagined). 

‘Brian Pitches Ideas’ knowing the rich history of Brian’s creative contributions to the various band’s I was surprised by how tame this was, and how innocent, but nonetheless It was super fun and I’ll always be a supporter of these interludes between the more music focused numbers. I think my favourite bit was right at the end with the joke subversion that connects right into the lead-in for the next track. 

‘Kiss The Elden Ring’ has a really phenomenal instrumental backing, I mean I’m only getting the chance to review this now but I listened to it shortly after the release date and this one more so than the others really stuck in the back of my head, which is saying a lot considering I haven’t played or watched any playthroughs of Elden Ring. As always It’s a really engaging and bouncy track that doesn’t suffer much if you’re unfamiliar with the subject material, especially as that falls away to really be more about Arin getting horny for a Living Jar.

‘Mario à la Kart’ is already clever wordplay, but such a solid, guitar infused melody that blends well with Arin’s vocals. Plus it features one of my favourite Mario characters, Bullet Bill. Not a lot of new ground can really be tread with regard to Nintendo’s almost forty year old character and franchise, but nonetheless the Starbomb trio manage to breathe life into the chaos and horror of Mario kart. 

‘The Biggest D*ck in Hyrule’ is another funky beat, and you can really feel the Trey Manifique vibes flowing in this Starbomb release. I also really liked that despite having Dan who has a strong falsetto, and a passable girl’s voice they still decided to have Arin riff off against himself in this track. I’d admit to having dropped off of Legend of Zelda lately, but this is one for the fans of the The Legend of Link’s Distractions, which proves he’s the titular ‘biggest d*ck in Hyrule’. I’ll always love ‘It’s Dangerous to Go Alone’ but this is another strong entry in the Zelda Starbomb discography. 

‘Krobus Is Hot’ is big and bouncy up front, and Arin really comes out strong, this’ll easily earn a chuckle from Stardew Valley fans. Oddly enough considering how chill that game is, this is easily more risque than the cosmetically similar track above ‘Kiss the Elden Ring’. Much like the aforementioned track, I came back to this one more than once on subsequent relistens to the whole release. Plus this instantly gains points for having some Brian vocals. 

‘Joy-Con Drift’ has some awesome shredding strings and percussion and once again Arin is on top form, and even better still this has some genuine harmony between Arin and Dan which has been surprisingly light throughout the album as a whole. This has such an amazing energy, and you just get swept up in the performance. They alluded to some opinions in the introduction that this project hasn’t evolved as well as Ninja Sex Party has and while I can understand that point of view It’s really gratifying to see a release like this that’s just dripping with passion, talent and silliness. 

‘Sonic’s Last Ring’ is superb, funny especially if you’re big on Sonic. It has the same overall vibe as the Simple Plot songs and if there wasn’t a brand new one of those later on in the album it would have served as a viable replacement as it dove into the expanded Sonic cast. Overall though it was funny, has a nice momentum to it, and reminded me that I haven’t played a Sonic game in a while though, other than ‘The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog’ but I’m not sure that counts. That does remind me of one small issue with the album, the name is derived from a title from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and yet despite that we only have one Sonic related song? Feels like a missed opportunity. 

‘That Feels Incredible’ is another excellent interlude, Brian making the noises of the percussive melody, which slowly gives way to actual beats, and overall a fun and funky melody that’s on the right side of ridiculous. 

‘Wheel Of Misfortune’ is a big one for the Game Grumps fans as we’ve been treated to hours of them playing ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and this is distinctly self-referential to their gameplay on the channel. I really liked this track, and as we progress into the final few tracks I’m continually impressed.

‘Falling Diagonally’ has a really heavy melody that has some nice build to it. I love that even though he’s totally a cute wee guy, the dread and energy of the track makes Q*bert an almost intimidating character. I will say of all the tracks across the Starbomb discography this one most seems like they just recorded a mental breakdown, and I mean that in the most positive way. 

‘The Simple Plot of Silent Hill 2’ brings back one of my favourite elements, the ‘Simple Plot’ framework, and as a franchise that I’m particularly familiar with, I really enjoyed it. I will say Dan’s character in the narrative being just so done with the format makes it even better somehow. I especially like how they dealt with the branching endings. Overall a strong closing to what has been a really satisfying and worthwhile album.

So that’s what I thought of Starbomb’s album ‘Boom: Rise of Lyrics’ and if you want to check that out for yourself then head on over to Spotify. If you want to keep up with the latest from Starbomb then check them out on Facebook, Twitter and on their personal website. Also if you want to see music videos for the various Starbomb tracks as well as behind the scenes stuff then check out their YouTube channel.