Sonic Boom Six first appeared on the Manchester punk scene in April 2002. Some of their members were previously in the band Grimace. Their self-titled demo, recorded with Jerry Melchers, was self-released in October 2002. To promote the CD, they toured the UK with third wave ska veterans The Toasters and London ska punk/hip hop band King Prawn. They also toured with Coolie Ranx and performed as his backing band. In September 2003, they released The Turbo EP, their first release for Moon Ska Europe. This was produced by Ace (of Skunk Anansie) and Christophe. After a series of good reviews, Sonic Boom Six were invited to perform a session on BBC Radio One's The Lock Up.
After further touring with Catch 22, as well as on the Moon Ska Launchpad Tour 2004 (alongside Zen Baseballbat, Graveltrap, Babar Luck and Dumpster Pop), the band re-united with Ace and Christophe to record their second EP. Sounds to Consume was released on Moon Ska Europe in August 2004, and include the Turbo EP as bonus tracks. After tour dates with Leftöver Crack and The Suicide Machines, the band appeared on BBC2's Asian arts programme Desi DNA performing in a scrapyard, as well as being interviewed by Adil Ray for his show on the BBC Asian Network.
Sonic Boom Six performing "All In" with Itch of The King Blues. Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, 27 August 2006
In early February 2005, Sonic Boom Six replaced guitarist Dave "Hellfire" Kelly with guitarist Ben, who used to play sax, thus making SB6 a four-piece. Ben's old sax parts are now played through a sampler when performing live, or by musicians from other bands, such as Grown at Home and The Flaming Tsunamis. In 2005, the band opened the Love Music Hate Racism event on the Leftfield Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, played Belgium's Sortie 23 festival and performed at the premier of the Rock Against Racism film Who Shot the Sheriff? with HARD-Fi and Roll Deep. 2005 also saw the release of the Champion Edition of Sounds to Consume, which featured four of their original demo tracks (remixed by Tim G), three remixes, an acoustic track and a video. They also embarked on several dates on the inaugural Good To Go Tour alongside The Aquabats and Never Heard of It.
In 2006, the band recorded their second session for BBC Radio 1's The Lock Up, which was broadcast on 27 June. They were joined by Pete and Tucker from Jesse James and Itch from The King Blues. Their debut full-length album, The Ruff Guide to Genre-Terrorism, was released on 10 July 2006 on Deck Cheese Records, and in August 2006 the band played the Reading and Leeds Festivals as a last minute replacement for Paramore. They were joined again by Itch of The King Blues for a performance of "All In" (singing the parts of the song written by Coolie Ranx) and Nick 'The Blade' Horne of Howards Alias, partner of vocalist Laila, who played trombone on the songs "Bigger Than Punk Rock" and "Until the Sunlight Comes".
In May 2007, they played at the Slam Dunk Festival at Leeds University Union with Paramore and Reel Big Fish. During Reel Big Fish's set, Laila joined the band on stage to sing parts of "She Has a Girlfriend Now" alongside Aaron Barrett. She joined them again during Reel Big Fish's Monkeys for Nothin' winter tour in 2008. They played the Reading and Leeds Festivals again in 2007, on the Lock Up stage, playing not only their own material but covering the song "Sound System" by Operation Ivy. During this song, Itch from the King Blues once again joined them on stage to sing it. November 2007 saw the release of the band's second full-length CD, Arcade Perfect, on their own Rebel Alliance Recordings.
In May 2008, the band embarked on the Rude Awakening 2008 tour, alongside Big D and the Kids Table and Random Hand. 2008 also saw a second Ruff and Ready tour. This was followed by the release of a remixes, b-sides and rarities album entitled Play On: Rare, Rejected and Arcade Perfected, which the band toured in support of in late 2008. Nick Horne also joined the band as a full time member, now playing guitar and bass live as well as trombone. They played at the Hevy Music Festival on 1 August 2009.
In May 2009 Sonic Boom Six released their third album City of Thieves, once again on Rebel Alliance Recordings. August 2009 saw Sonic Boom Six open the Main Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festival.
On 8 October 2009, it was announced on the band's official website that Ben Childs would be leaving the band after the forthcoming "Boom or Bust" tour and that he would be temporarily replaced by Matthew Reynolds – current vocalist and guitarist with rock band Drawings and also formerly of Howards Alias. In February 2010 new permanent member James "Jimmy T Boom" Routh, formerly of Myth of Unity, joined the band on guitar.
The Strange Tale of Sid the Strangler
Sonic Boom Six Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Blood on our hands never did wash easy
Oh oh oh oh oh
What we need is a good, clean story
To Good health! It's flying off the shelf
The tale of Sid the Strangler, he wrote it all himself
Oh oh oh
Oh what a fine man was he!
Built like a boxer should be!
The jewel in the gangland, the pride of his homeland to see!
Public we get what we want
Salt of the earth and he talks like we do
Oh – oh – oh
Loves his footy and Sunday roast too
Our Joan, She told me on the phone
The bit about the chinaman who couldn't pay his loan
Oh oh oh oh oh
Knew what he was getting into
Oh what a fine man was he!
Built like a boxer should be!
The jewel in the gangland, the pride of his homeland, to see!
Don't you be worried my friend
"Woman and children were safer back then"
Never been shame in the torture and maiming of men
Rejoice in the streets my people!
And dance with the ex-criminals
Sure, they once broke the law
But that's what the prison's there for!
Are you really sure?
Oh what a fine man was he
Built like a boxer should be
And as for the stabbing
Well stranger things happen at sea.
Don't you be worried my friend
"Woman and children were safer back then"
Never been shame in the torture and maiming of men
Here we go again.
The song "The Strange Tale of Sid the Strangler" by Sonic Boom Six delves into the themes of glorification of violence and crime by the public. The lyrics talk about the public's love for violence and the concept of a good, clean story. The line "public we get what we want" reflects how people love a sensational story, even if it involves violence and crime, and how they lap up such stories without any regard for the victims. The lyricist points out that in such situations, the public has blood on their hands, and it never washes off quickly.
The title character, Sid the Strangler, is a fictional gangster who writes a book about his life, which becomes a bestseller. The lyrics suggest that the book is full of gory details, but people read it anyway. The public loves Sid, and the song describes him as "the jewel in the gangland, the pride of his homeland." The public does not seem to care that Sid has committed heinous crimes, and he becomes a hero figure.
The chorus repeats the line "Don't you be worried my friend, 'Woman and children were safer back then.'" It implies that people justify violence by believing that the world was much safer before, and extreme measures were necessary to keep society in check. Overall, the song critiques the glorification of violence by the public and how it leads to the creation of hero figures out of cruel and violent people.
Line by Line Meaning
Public we get what we want
We, the public, always get what we want.
Blood on our hands never did wash easy
We have caused harm to others, and it still weighs on us.
Oh oh oh oh oh
An expression of excitement and enthusiasm.
What we need is a good, clean story
We want an entertaining and morally clean narrative.
To Good health! It's flying off the shelf
Here's to good health! The book is selling well.
The tale of Sid the Strangler, he wrote it all himself
The book is about Sid the Strangler, and he wrote it.
Oh oh oh
An expression of enthusiasm and anticipation.
Skim through if it gets too gory
Read the book quickly or skip over the violent parts.
Oh what a fine man was he!
Sid the Strangler was admired and respected.
Built like a boxer should be!
Sid was physically strong and fit like a boxer.
The jewel in the gangland, the pride of his homeland to see!
Sid was valued and celebrated as a prominent figure in the criminal world.
Salt of the earth and he talks like we do
Sid spoke like a regular person and was considered down-to-earth.
Loves his footy and Sunday roast too
Sid enjoyed football and having a traditional Sunday meal.
Our Joan, She told me on the phone
Joan shared information with me over the phone.
The bit about the chinaman who couldn't pay his loan
Joan told me about a Chinese man who couldn't repay a loan.
Knew what he was getting into
The consequences of not repaying the loan were known to the Chinese man.
Don't you be worried my friend
Don't fret, my friend.
"Woman and children were safer back then"
Women and children were safer during the time when Sid lived.
Never been shame in the torture and maiming of men
It was never considered shameful to torture and harm men during Sid's time.
Rejoice in the streets my people!
Let's celebrate in the streets!
And dance with the ex-criminals
Let's even dance with former criminals.
Sure, they once broke the law
Yes, they committed crimes in the past.
But that's what the prison's there for!
That's why we have prisons, to punish those who break the law.
Are you really sure?
Are you absolutely certain?
And as for the stabbing
As for the stabbing incident with Sid...
Well stranger things happen at sea.
Unexpected things can occur anywhere.
Here we go again.
We're starting all over again.
Writer(s): Ben Childs, Laila Khan, Paul Barnes, Neil Mcminn
Contributed by Penelope H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.