Album: Zun Zun Egui, Katang (Bella Union)

 

Andy Gill
Thursday 29 September 2011 19:00 EDT
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There's industry aplenty in this debut album from Bristol quartet Zun Zun Egui, avant-rockers in the city's finest tradition, though in places I'm reminded of the old saw about how one should cease digging when in a hole.

ZZE's thing, in tracks such as "Katang" and "Cowboy", is lumpy but nimble punk-funk, with African stylings leavening the Magic Band flavour: strident guitars colliding with the muscular spring of Juju music, and polyglot vocals doing little to ease comprehension. On the single "Fandango Fresh", the repeated line about "sexy worm and you got to burn" just about matches the Foals-like math-rock manner, but they seem to have no governor mechanism to ensure their pieces remain engaging. The results, on a track like "Mr Brown", sound dangerously close to an African version of prog-rock, which no-one wants to hear.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Katang; Fandango Fresh; Heart in a Jar

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