Orlando's Sh-Booms embark on a national campaign at Will's Pub

THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
The Sh-Booms album release, Will’s Pub, March 22

I love how the career of the Sh-Booms has been unfolding. The emerging native soul syndicate are now one of the biggest Orlando stories this year with the major buzz campaign for their new album The Blurred Odyssey, which finally released last Friday on excellent Miami indie label Limited Fanfare Records (home to notable acts like the Ettes, Astronautalis & Rickolus, Heavy Drag, Lil Daggers, etc.).

Though the media campaign's been going on these past few months, the story of the band’s positioning has been years in the making. It’s been gradual but methodical. Now the Sh-Booms are on the most significant threshold of their career. And it's with an album that’s the crystallization of where they've been headed all this time.

First, it’s a good record, a really good one. It’s finally a vivid document of that symmetry of gut and soul that the Sh-Booms have been honing for years. Moreover, it’s come on one of the most impressive national rollouts seen from a local band in a very long time. Leading up to the full release, singles from it have been premiered prominently on major outlets like Flood Magazine (“Audible”) and Little Steven’s Underground Garage (“Leon the Hustler”). It’s been the kind of unveiling usually seen only for national acts. And it’s awfully nice to see a local band conducting themselves and contending like one.
The Orlando release party launched their headlining tour with a big hometown boost, a packed house that was electric with excitement and local pride. The Sh-Booms' whole shebang has led up to this moment. Where it leads, we'll see. Let’s not overstate the guarantee of a few national sparks, however auspicious. There's still a whole lot of hustle to do so, really, this is just the beginning for them. But as the past few years have proven, the Sh-Booms have the long view and are good for the grind. And a whole scene is rooting for them.

Speaking of big local revelations, the fresh looks of Will's Pub just debuted this week and they're so dramatic that it’s like being in a completely new spot. We're not talking about a fresh coat of paint or new light fixtures or some shit like that. This is a reshuffle of space and function so total and defining that it will be a shock.

Basically, the only room that's unchanged in essence is the music room. Other than that, it's a complete reconfiguration that's brought the bar nucleus up to the front room where it probably should’ve been all along.

The back room is now, well, a back room, a relief lounge with a small bar where you can still see the stage with the comfort of some space, no doubt destined to become the spot where all the pros will hang in packed-out situations.
Regulars will be disoriented for months, but the major Will's Pub revamp is done well and with great logic. Remember the local outrage when the pub went non-smoking? It was like Orlando’s own Y2K, anticipated with apocalyptic hysteria but quickly gotten over. And the ultimate result was much better. This will be the same because, all told, it's a whole new world of energy and sightlines featuring more of both than before. Go see for yourselves.

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