The Boom Bang

Credits: Joshua Boydston

Although the Oklahoma City act itself isn’t engaging in the extreme stage antics quite as much, the legion of fans it’s built up is more than picking up the slack by stage diving, getting naked or pouring beers in the guys’ mouths. One show in January was particularly wild ...

“Andy (Nunez) from Opolis told us he had never seen so much broken glass in the venue,” guitarist Tommy McKenzie said. “We’ve never been to the point where we were terrified or anything, but there are times when we think, ‘Is everyone losing their minds?’” Midway through that chaotic set, one fans took the stage in nothing but his underwear, only to have it yanked back in what drummer Charles Whetstone described as “if Zach Galifianakis was on the Coppertone bottle instead of the baby.” Another superfan broke a bone in his foot while moshing. When it comes to enjoying The Boom Bang live, it’s whatever floats fans’ boats.

“We don’t care,” Whetstone said.

“We just kind of want people to have fun, however they want to do that.”

Listeners may leave with broken bones and unflattering photos, but they also exit with smiles. In doing so, the group has amassed quite an army to fight behind its newest album, “World War Fun.”

Released in March, the disc proves the band is serious on making the best music that it can. McKenzie and Whetstone, along with singer James Smith and bassist Weston Lorance, spent months deliberating, reworking tracks and studying trends on albums as a whole.

“It’s really swallowable in the beginning, then ‘Mondo Ripper’ gets really weird, almost uncomfortable, then it snaps right back in to more singles,” McKenzie said. “When they used to make vinyl, the middle would get really shitty-sounding. I thought we made a good choice in pacing the record like we did.”

For a group dead set on having fun, its members have grown up over their few years together, and it shows in the work’s unexpected maturity.

Still, The Boom Bang never misses an opportunity to be a little goofy, which should help push them through a summer tour it anticipates to be grueling.

“We expect to have shitty shows,” McKenzie said. “If only two people come out, we can’t be mad.”

Added Whetstone, “We’re just excited to give ourselves the chance to travel and see the country. It’s our little United States vacation, and I’m going to be Clark Griswold.”

Read a review of The Boom Bang’s brand-new album, “World War Fun.”