The Mighty Bossmags

EXPECT a melting pot of ‘witchy’ punk rock and folklore and myths when The Mighty Bossmags turn Old Town House into their Halloween haunt.

The Warrington band are headlining the Buttermarket Street venue’s Halloween celebration on Saturday and the night will also act as the launch party for their debut album, Curio Cabinet.

Frontman Bobby Stickah said: “We’re going to have lots of weird and wonderful stuff going on, including a puppet show.

“We want to invite people into a very strange environment and make it a one-time thing for Halloween.”

The five-piece are inspired by tales of the supernatural – making them a perfect fit for the witching hour.

Bobby, 24, said: “I’m heavily influenced by folklore. That’s what excites me and I don’t think it’s really celebrated in music enough.

“Without the music behind a lot of the songs they could be short stories. We do songs about ghosts, pirates and witches.”

The music itself is just as eclectic too.

Bobby added: “We call it a witchy punk rock. It’s synth driven and there’s a bit of ska in there as well.

“It’s all experimental. There’s also a bit of funk, swing, heavy metal and even Balkan music.”

The Mighty Bossmags formed in July 2016 and had their first gig at Old Town House (then known as the Brewhouse) under its former management.

So they are excited to be returning to the venue which is now run by their friends on the punk circuit, Cait Costello and Jen Burgess.

Bobby, who has lived in Warrington for two years, added: “It’s really the only venue that puts its back into giving Warrington a real live music scene. Cait and Jen bring in bands from all over.

"It’s a platform for every artist to play on. We haven’t really felt a connection like that anywhere else. They’ve done a capital job, they’ve got the support behind them and they’ve shown there is a demand with events every week.

“The punk rock scene has definitely been working in Warrington for a while, mainly because of Cait and the ‘Spannered’ gigs.

“But a lot of other bands from other genres really struggled before Old Town House reopened.

“Warrington band Danxia recently did a shoegaze night with the Italian band Rev Rev Rev so everyone’s getting a shot at it.

“There’s a hell of a lot of talent in Warrington and it’s only going to get better and there’s now a place for them to play with no cliques.

“Old Town House has opened its doors to any type of music.”

The Mighty Bossmags perform at Old Town House on Saturday for a Halloween special. The event runs from 8pm to 1.30am - Warrington Guardian

The Mighty Bossmags are a band like no other. The band describe themselves as "raw, experimental and bizarre groove punk 'n' roll potion concocted of ska, swing, funk and synth driven electronic flavours." Based in Warrington, the band just released a brand new album on Bredda Records and Anti Pop Records named Curio Cabinet. Let's say this - it was a very interesting listen.

The intro gives you a feel of what you should expect from Curio Cabinet. It has a pirate nightmare theme, with a spooky voice that you might hear telling tales at one of those odd sideshow fun fairs you see on the TV. The album starts properly with a proper skankfest for the song Ghost Ship. It's upbeat and listening to it will get your knees high immediately. There is a bit of a Celtic theme to go along with the ska so as I'm sure that you can imagine it's a lot of fun! The horror theme of the album is very apparent on Withered Hand with the synth adding a spooky atmosphere to the song. To add to this atmosphere there are plenty of cackles added to the song that might give people nowhere near as brave as me the willies. The fourth song Gazeebo Anthrax is what I assume is the closest The Mighty Bossmags will get to a traditional punk song. It's fast paced, with one hell of a catchy chorus. It's obviously alot of fun to listen to and will get you smiling from the first chorus. White Limousine is more of an old school rock 'n' roll track, you know, with a spooky vibe. The song takes a strange break midway through with just some bells jingling before the song builds up again, with the inclusion of an engine running. The breakdown in the middle of the song was so unexpected I actually thought that a new song was starting.

Poison Tree starts with a pounding drum beat and some keys, showing off a jazzier side of The Mighty Bossmags unique sound. Weirdly I'm kind of reminded of Muse on this track, at least at the beginning as halfway through the song transforms into more of a folky sounding song complete with mandolin. Track number seven is named Too Much. Blending a mix of ska, punk and psychobilly, it's another unique sounding song that will get you dancing your night away. Too Much is a song that does an excellent job of showing what good musicians the folk in The Mighty Bossmags are, taking a mix of styles and moulding them together brilliantly. One of the strongest songs on Curio Cabinet. It's Alright is another more straight forward punk rock song. Musically it's one of the heavier sounding songs on the album and is just a fun no-thrills number that does its job well. After all of the spooky pirate themed numbers it's a bit refreshing to hear a more traditional (for The Mighty Bossmags anyway) song. Waste Of Time is a song that switches between straight forward punk and ska brilliantly. At one minute you can be banging your head before you find yourself skanking around your room before going right back to banging your head. Something I've noticed that this band do very well is switch up their styles in songs. It keeps you always guessing.

Rise And Fall is the album's longest track. Beginning with a strong bassline, we are then treated to a lovely piece of crust punk that gets you swaying before a big sing-a-long chorus comes in. Soon enough things are switched up and that spooky sound that could give even the bravest of kids the heebie-jeebies comes in accompanied by an excellent guitar riff. This long musical interlude is soon interrupted by some super fast paced ska and one final chorus to finish things off. This song is all over the place in the greatest way. Ghost House is a fun horror punk tune. To me it sounds like the theme to a so-bad-it's-good horror comedy b-movie. I don't have much else to say about this one. The penultimate song on Curio Cabinet is named Johnny The Claw. Johnny The Claw is a plodding rock 'n' roll song that begins as a real foot stomper. As things progress the spooky pirate horror theme sneaks into the song. I particularly enjoyed the song's energy as the sound grows and we get a passionate ending. Finally we have the song Banana. This is a very apt song title as the song is absolutely bananas. Just listen to it!

Curio Cabinet is easily one of the most unique records I've ever heard. It's like nothing you've ever heard before. This is why I really enjoyed it. Honestly I had no idea what was happening half of the time but I think that's part of the fun of the album. It takes you out of your comfort zone and has you smiling the whole way through. - Colins Punk Rock World

The Might Bossmags are from Warrington and when it comes to the already mainstream society dubbed oddness of the Punk scene this band are still really quite odd. Having been described as “Experimental Punk” by both themselves and others the band sound like a Pirate obsessed, horror-loving concoction of NOFX, Misfits and the Dead Kennedys if they had formed some sort of super group that to an extent at least, ended up a warped Ska-Punk project that also had a penchant for Jazz.

The band’s debut album was released at the end of October this year and with opening ‘An Introduction’ and what essentially eludes to what Dracula would sound like if he had fallen on economic hardship and was working for a second-rate fair or mid-20th Century Freakshow, you know you’re not in for any normal Punk album.

The Halloween Ska-Punk ‘Ghost Ship’ is entertaining and infectious. This band may well be acting the fool but they know what they are doing. As the second half of the track falls more into what you could call Pirate-Punk, the Folk rhythms and plodding percussion lead into a Ska Rendition of the Dead Kennedys featuring random but well place old-school Hardcore breakdowns.



‘Withered Hand’ for all its comedic haunts chases the band’s urge to simply play up-tempo Punk really quite well before the comically titled, Garage Punk toned, dry humoured classic British Punk-Rock of ‘Gazebo Anthrax’.

‘White Limosine’ for the most part doesn’t quite size-up to its predecessor but is a good enough “filler”track mid record but it does lead well into the Blues-Rock/Jazz/Ska crossover of ‘Poison Tree’ which is very much the slower track ‘White Limosine’ should have been until its half way point before blast of Americana-infused sharp Folk Punk plays you out in one of the best moments of this interesting album.

‘Too Much’ explores low melodic guitars and another Dead Kennedys-esque charge form distorted Punk well into Ska and then back into heavier ground. ‘Too Much’ is a serious contender for the top spot.



‘A&E’ teases with a mid-tempo Skate Punk intro before rumbling, Rock n’Roll toned early-Hardcore Punk takes over on subsiding for a marginally more melodic chorus. The Mighty Bossmags are quite successfully infusing as much as they can, as often as they can and its not sounding cheap.

‘Waste Of Time’ isn’t and waste of time at a point where the band remind you of fellow joking Punkers, The Crash Mats who you should really find – Here. ‘Rise and Fall’ is the longest and inevitable Dub track the old hands reading this knew was coming while ‘Ghost House’ is another comedic-haunt.

As much as the albums mid-latter part is by far its strongest, Curio Cabinet overall is very well written, the band have taken a wide range of influences and twisted them to their warped yet cohesively classic needs. Curio Cabinet ends with the band’s wit and comedic skills used for a song of serious content, this is a Punk-Rock album after all and despite its title, ‘Banana’, it has a point to make. - Musically Fresh

From the opening seconds you are on a magical journey of madness and intrigue. Buckle up. Blast off.

The conceptual idea of the music and artwork seems to be a microcosm of debauchery in a hidden trinket case. Or in simpler terms if Pirates of the Caribbean was made by the BBC, filmed on the Thames or the Mersey and instead of Johnny Depp it was Ade Edmundson as Jack Sparrow

I hear Tom Waits, Madness, Billy Idol. Tonnes of influences here, but never does it not sound like The Mighty Bossmags. Mega choruses in all the right places. Head-banging, power chord blasting. Superb production.

9/10 w00fs - Sn1fferdog