Orlando's The Sh-Booms are back, wilder and weirder than ever

The Sh-Booms Credit: James Han

In their 15 years of hot business, soul syndicate The Sh-Booms have stormed out of Orlando to become a regional force with a mighty live rep that both rocks and boogies equally hard. But for a whopping nine-member wrecking crew famous for bringing down the house, they’ve been uncharacteristically quiet this decade. That, at long last, is about to change.

On March 10, The Sh-Booms will drop This Is a Test …, a four-song EP that’ll be their first studio collection since 2019. The good news is that the Boom squad still pack the juice and fire to light up a room. Reassuring indeed, since nothing kills a reunion more than seeing a dear old friend who’s unrecognizable. But the swerve is that The Sh-Booms now sport some unexpected new stripes.

Ain’t no half-stepping here. The band still swing big and kick it thick, and lead singer Brenda Radney still belts it out like a boss. However, there’s a weird new psych strand that runs through this EP.

This time out, bandleader Al Ruiz says, “Myself, Brenda [Radney] and [producer] Alan [Armitage] decided to hone in and experiment. Working closely with our new guitar player PJ Durand, lots of wild organ patches, rhythm section chaos and of course arrangements with the horn section, we achieved a sonic alignment … late nights listening to all kinds of ’80s New Wave and No Wave stuff, to shit like Thee Oh Sees and beyond, searching for ideas and inspiration, helped.”

Consequently, The Sh-Booms’ hard-rocking soul sound now brandishes some new twists. The experimental touches reach beyond their usual orbit and into 1960s psychedelia (“Love of a Ghost”) and 1980s retrofuturism (“This Is a Test”). Even with these flourishes, this is still a resolutely soul record and not a prog one. Amen.

This Is a Test … is more than just a new look, though. In an age drowning in TikToks and Instagram reels, these extended and exploratory songs — like the seven-minute-plus “Sin and the City” — are an open defiance of the short-form folly of these attention-deficit times. “That generic shit is set to appease the algorithm of style-neutered bots that seem to control the airwaves,” says Ruiz.

The EP doesn’t see release until March 10, but Orlando will get a live advance taste at this Friday’s release show featuring Skeletizer, 24 Hour Karate People, comedian Alex Luchun and DJs Yuca Frita and Crème Fraîche (8 p.m. March 6, Will’s Pub, $15-$20). Limited-edition vinyl copies will be available there. The next night will be the chance for all the Tampa homies (7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7, Crowbar, $15-$20).

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Orlando’s The Sh-Booms are back, wilder and weirder than ever

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