The Boomtown Rats have announced their first album in 36 years.
Bob Geldof and co will release the 10-track LP ‘Citizens of Boomtown’ on March 13, 2020, and the frontman has admitted now couldn’t be a more poignant time to unleash their new rock ‘n’ roll tunes which are a reaction to the current political climate.
Geldof said: "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."
The lead single, ‘Trash Glam, Baby’ was released on Tuesday (10.12.19).
The ‘I Don’t Like Monday’s’ hitmakers – completed by bassist Pete Briquette, drummer Simon Crowe, and guitarist Garry Roberts – have also announced a UK, kicking off at Brighton Dome on March 26.
Plus, Geldof, 65, is also set to publish the tome ‘Tales of Boomtown Glory’, with lyrics, personal stories and pages from his notebooks, and a film by Billy McGrath about the group is also on the way.
The documentary was filmed in Dublin, London and New York, and features interviews with all of the band, and the likes of U2’s Bono, Sting, Sinead O’Connor and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart discuss the band’s influence.
The Boomtown Rats’ original line-up split in 1986 but they reformed with Geldof in 2013 and have been touring at festivals ever since.
The new album will be their first since 1984’s ‘The Long Grass’.
The track-listing for ‘Citizens of Boomtown’ is:
1. ‘Trash Glam, Baby’
2. ‘Sweet Thing’
3. ‘Monster Monkeys’
4. ‘She Said No’
5. ‘Passing Through’
6. ‘Here’s A Postcard’
7. ‘K.I.S.S.’
8. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Yé Yé’
9. ‘Get A Grip’
10. ‘The Boomtown Rats’