Music, Print, Reviews March 11, 2021

Album Review: Bones Muhroni – Boom Snap Clap

by Laura Giagos

Bones Muhroni, aka Crew Rienstra has done a lot over the years to find ways of making interesting music. While folk rock was always at the center of the breadth of material Rienstra (along with many other talented musicians) released under the Bones Muhroni name, there was always something bizarre and out of place happening underneath. That off-putting yet magnetic quality was always a peek into the personality of Rienstra, no matter how understated it was.

After relocating to Los Angeles from Colorado, Rienstra held on to the Bones Muhroni name, and that weird guy living beneath all the cool, folk rock attitude began to rise to the surface. Then “the Covid” hit, forcing Rienstra to retreat to his bedroom studio where, freeing himself from any sense of convention, he produced Boom Snap Clap. This ten-track escapade of gratuitous sampling is like early Panda Bear meets TV Girl meets a guy who got his theater degree from the University of Northern Colorado.

Packed with nuance and texture, Boom Snap Clap is Rienstra letting go in a lot of ways. Instead of focusing on writing songs in a traditional way, he dug into learning the engineering side of things. Along the way he created something that bounces between electro, R&B, grunge rock, even a metal tune (featuring Bones Muhroni original drummer Ryan Wykert recorded in a garage in Santa Fe, New Mexico), and safely landing on the graceful folk number “Call on Me”, which oddly enough fits perfectly on the album.

Stand out tracks “Search Inside my Widowed Mind” and “Tap On Ivory” both carry an understated, emotional weight that pulls at you – the harder you listen, the more you find. Singles “Faster Than a Bulleit” and “I Should Have it RN” are straight-up pop rock songs that really show Rienstra stretching his songwriting legs.

Boom Snap Clap, at the end of the day, was just a fun project for Rienstra, but what came from it is real work of inspiration and creativity.

Support Bones Muhroni directly by purchasing Boom Snap Clap for whatever price you choose at bonesmuhroni.bandcamp.com