Does the name Bomb The Bass mean anything to you? Because it means something to me. When I was nine years old, my family moved to London for a year — 1988 to 1989, right in time for the Second Summer Of Love. As a dedicated Top Of The Pops viewer, I got really used to hearing production from the UK sample wizard Tim Simenon, otherwise known as Bomb The Bass. Simenon co-produced Neneh Cherry's international smash "Buffalo Stance," and he made dizzy, chopped-up hits of his own like "Beat Dis" and "Megablast." Simenon still goes by Bomb The Bass, but I happened to be there for his moment. So I instantly perked up when I heard line "Bomb The Bass with a brand new jam" on Confidence Man's new single "Young London."
Confidence Man, who formed in Australia and who are now based in London, make a knowingly trashy form of rave-pop, and they're a lot of fun. Their EP Active Scenes Vol. One came out at the end of last year. Now, they're back with the new single "Young London," which pushes them ever further into the realm of old-school dance music. It's got a big bassline and some ultra-catchy keyboard riffs and a sample that comes back again and again, Fatboy Slim-style: "Bomb The Bass with a brand new jam."
As it turns out, that sample doesn't even come from a Bomb The Bass song. It's the pirate-radio DJ chatter at the beginning of the video for the version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David standard "Say A Little Prayer" that Bomb The Bass recorded with the singer Maureen. That record was a top-10 UK hit. I definitely saw Bomb The Bass and Maureen mime out a performance on Top Of The Pops. Not sure I ever saw the video, though. Confidence Man's new track doesn't really sound like Bomb The Bass, but the incessant slickness of that sample takes me back anyway. I like the song, and I like the video, a static shot of the Confidence Man members (and one other faceless guy) busting out their fanciest footwork outside of a mobile soundsystem. Check it out below.
"Young London" is out now on Casablanca.
