Boomkat - Boomkatalog One

As an actress, Taryn Manning played Kirsten Dunst’s druggy pal in “Crazy/Beautiful,” Britney Spears’ knocked-up teen pal in “Crossroads,” Eminem’s jilted ex-girlfriend in ‘8 Mile,’ as well as making an appearance in the high-profile "long and lean" ad campaign for Gap jeans (she’s the girl who sings bits of the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” with Marianne Faithfull and Tweet.)

As Boomkat , brother and sister duo of Kellin and Taryn Manning, developed a unique pop sound influenced by (as Kellin describes it) “everything from The Beatles to A Tribe Called Quest to Motown to Depeche Mode to Oasis,” beginning with primitive instrumental tracks, sampled beats Kellin would record on a 4-track for his sister record vocals over.

Taryn’s success as an actress gave the duo an easy marketing hook, and helped land them a record deal. The inclusion of their song “Wastin’ My Time” on the ‘8 Mile’ soundtrack (a song that also appears on ‘Boomkatalog One’) gained the band exposure. Boomkat entered the studio with producer/Pro Tools guru Martin Pradler, emerging with ‘Boomkatalog One’ (to be released in this week in the US and UK).

The debut album’s first single—“The Wreckoning”—has already landed Boomkat a #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. “ Like the rest of the songs on the album, “The Wreckoning” has a slick, radio-ready sound comprised of carefully constructed multi-layered beats, samples and live instrumentation drawn from hip-hop, pop, soul, and electronica.

If Beck and Nelly Furtado did an album together, it might sound something like this. The pretty-good-record-collection eclecticism, youthful enthusiasm, and pleasant musical textures throughout ‘Boomkatalog One’ are enough to carry it through uneven songs and Taryn’s singing, which favors attitude and a good sense of pop fashion over raw vocal talent.

Matt Parks (April 6, 2003)