Bam magazine
May 31, 1996

[reprinted with permission.]

by Stephen Peters (speters@columbus.rr.com)

Hard to believe it's been almost two decades since I was a pre-teen, cruising the San Fernando Valley on my bike and marveling at the strange flyers plastered everywhere announcing shows for a group called the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Although they would ultimately adopt not one but two name changes (Oingo Boingo, then simply Boingo), it seems appropriate that their swan song would be a live recording (shades of GoodbyeCream!), performed in a hometown venue (the Universal Amphitheater), and credited to the moniker under which singer Danny Elfman and company enjoyed their greatest successes.

Recorded last Halloween, Farewell is a generous parting gift (30 songs, including four new tracks, spanning nearly two-and-a-half hours on two CDs) that recalls the group's quirky New Wave/alternative roots, while also showcasing the musical diversity that helped distinguish them from their '80s-dance peers, whether it's shimmering acoustic fare or an occasional hint of Elfman's more recent symphonic sensibilities.

That's not to say that nothing here ends up sounding dated, however; in these PC-preoccupied times, I suddenly found myself listening to the classic "Little Girls" and wondering why I'd never recognized it as the story of a pedophile when I was so gleefully bouncing off the walls to it in high school. As for why a band that still generates this kind of intensity (after 17 years !) would call it quits, Elfman rationalizes in the liner notes: "Modern research has recently proven that after a band has been together longer than a decade, the risk of the dinosaur factor kicking in increases exponentially each year thereafter." Fair enough.

Farewell, then, serves up a fitting last hurrah from a band that insured its place in music history when it carved a unique niche for itself in a genre that has long since become extinct.

(c) 1996 Stephen Peters