"Bom Bom" is a song by the British-Dutch three-piece music group

Sam and the Womp Sam and the Womp is a British pop group consisting of trumpeter Sam Ritchie and Dutch-born vocalist Bloem de Ligny, also known as Lady Oo. The band's music mixes traditional elements of Balkan music with modern dub and drum 'n' bass elements. ...

. The track was first released in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2012. The song debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

with 107,461 copies sold in its first week. "Bom Bom" was co-produced by Sam Ritchie, Aaron Horn and Raz Olsher at Fossil Studios in Hackney, London. The song is in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Bom Bom" was first released onto YouTube on 3 August 2012 at a total length of two minutes and 55 seconds.

Reception

Critical reception

Lewis Corner of ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'' gave the song a positive review, stating:

Lady Oo sing-speaks over an earworm hook of
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
reverb and bouncy
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
that's as bonkers as it is addictive. While parts of the track may sound like
Basil Brush Basil Brush is a fictional red fox, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips. The character has f ...
attempting his best
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
impression at the staff BBQ, it results in a bizarrely catchy tune that we'll all pretend isn't on our
iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
s for years to come.

Chart performance

In the chart week dated 1 September 2012, "Bom Bom" debuted at number-one on the

with 107,461 copies sold. For that same charting week, the track also debuted at number-one on the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...

. The song sold 372,000 copies by the end of 2012 making it the 42nd best-selling single of the year.

Usage in media

In the United States, the song was used in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television series ''

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...

'' where it was used in an opening scene from the episode "The Deductionist" in 2013. It also appears two times in the 2013 animated film ''

Escape from Planet Earth ''Escape from Planet Earth'' is a 2013 computer animated comedy-adventure science fiction film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment and distributed by The Weinstein Company in the United States and Entertainment One in Canada, directed by Cal Bru ...

''. In addition, it is in the official soundtrack of the 2012

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

game ''

Forza Horizon ''Forza Horizon'' is a 2012 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 on 23 October 2012. The game is the fifth instalment of the '' Forza'' series, having originally spun-off from Turn 10 ...

'', and was used in promotional material for the MTV series ''

Geordie Shore ''Geordie Shore'' is a British reality television series that was broadcast on MTV between 24 May 2011 and 22 November 2022. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England it was the British offshoot of the American show ''Jersey Shore''. The programm ...

''. In 2013, it featured in TV commercials for

Kmart Australia Kmart Australia Limited ( /ˈkeɪmɑːrt/ ''KAY-mart'', doing business as Kmart, Kmart Australia, Kmart New Zealand and Kmart Australia And New Zealand and stylised as ''Kmart'') is an Australian chain of department stores owned by the Kmart G ...

. In Canada, the song has been used in a series of TV commercials for the

Joe Fresh Joe Fresh is a Canadian fashion brand and retail chain created by designer Joe Mimran for Canadian food distributor Loblaw Companies Limited. It was formed in 2006. The label includes adult and children's wear, shoes, handbags, jewelry, beauty pr ...

line of clothing. In the United Kingdom, it is heard in TV commercials for online casino company 32Red. It is also featured in '' The Sims 3: Island Paradise'' and is sung in

Simlish Simlish is a fictional language featured in EA's ''Sim'' series of games. It debuted in ''SimCopter'' (1996), and has been especially prominent in ''The Sims'' franchise, as well as in its spinoff ''MySims'' series. Simlish can also be heard ...

. It is also featured in the first trailer of ''

Free Birds ''Free Birds'' is a 2013 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film. The film follows two turkeys travelling back in time to the first Thanksgiving to get turkey off the menu. It was produced by Reel FX Creative Studios as its fir ...

''. It can also be heard in the

Razzie The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

-winning/

ALFS Award The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally. The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of the ...

-nominated mystery buddy comedy film ''

Holmes & Watson ''Holmes & Watson'' is a 2018 American-Canadian mystery-comedy film written and directed by Etan Cohen. The film stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as the eponymous characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively; with Rebecca Hall, R ...

''.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2012 debut singles 2012 songs Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Stiff Records singles