I love what No Wukkas do; The only problem I really have with their wonderful music is defining it in any precise way. This might be defined as a ‘reviewer’s problem’ rather than a listener’s problem; the listener only has to decide whether they like it. I guess I could probably define what they do as being broadly psych; except this isn’t really enough, sadly. As we will see in this review.

‘THT’ brings me another musical facet of the band’s sound. Yep, it’s within that psych area but it has Punk, raw R’n’B and even some Madchester elements. Now to me some parts of this bring to mind John’s Children (a band that Marc Bolan was a member of before going solo) a band who did raw garage-y psych R’n’B before this was a thing. For those of you to who this is a meaningless music reference – although I do urge you to check out John’s Children – it might be better to imagine this track as a whirling maelstrom of ever shifting sound.

Next up is ‘Sick Stan’, a song about an ‘encounter with an awful guy at the Brudenell Social club. Just like the song, he demanded attention from everyone in the room’. There are shades of Zappa – in the guitar sound and the semi-spoken vocals, odd hints of early Black Sabbath – you know those more psychedelic tracks from the first album, a sprinkle of Gong and finally, but not least, strange and challenging progressive jazz-rock.

‘Everybody’s got a price’ leaps, with both feet, into what I might describe as acid psych pop-rock. Yes really, this track is poppy. It has a beautiful tune that’s hugely earwormy, far out retro keyboards, that big sound that West Coast psych pop had and a hint of Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac. It also has this really funky jazzy bass playing that at times is so weird compared to what it’s playing under that it blew my mind.

And now to the suitably epic ‘Gaudete’. A track that starts with some fabulous psych rock noodling, builds to psychedelic classic rock… and then. Well, it explodes into a ridiculously mind blowing punky take on acid garage; like the Prunk sound of Cardiacs (a word coined to encompass their punk progressive music sound) but with more way out acid rock keyboards. What this clumsy attempt to describe the track doesn’t tell you is that the experience of listening to the gorgeousness of this instrumental track will lead to an explosion of sonic joy like nothing you’ve heard before.

Before I conclude I need to address something. A friend described the band’s sound as being a bit ‘crate digger-y’ – an accusation he also made about the Dukes of the Stratosphere (basically XTC doing psychedelic pop and rock). By this he means that the band have dug through crates of broadly psych music and ‘assembled’ a sound out of those. It almost goes without saying that I disagree. The thing is that all music builds on influences from music that came before. You might hear the influences of certain artists – and these might not be the same ones as me or anyone else – in No Wukkas’ sound but how they put these together is their sound. Or to put it another way, they might be using the same ingredients as other people but they are using their own cooking method and spicing it up with their own secret recipe sauce.

That done, let’s get on with the review.

I love a band who, within a broad musical spectrum, are prepared to take their sound in different directions and push the sonic envelope. No Wukkas do more than push the envelope, they break through it and strike out into unexplored space. They do this with an ease that is simply astounding. Their music is complex but at the same time it’s wonderfully organic, raw and exhilarating. It satisfies both the listener who wants to submerge themselves into the musical nuances, and the listener who just wants to freak out.

If you’re not on the No Wukkas train, get on board with this mind blowing EP. If you’re already on board, you know the drill. This will shatter your mind into a million tiny pieces of musical joy.

Stream/Download: https://kycker.ffm.to/horsem

Completely unexpectedly this release from Su. I Think is what other reviewers might refer to as ‘a Summertime dance banger’. Not being your standard music reviewer I would probably refer to it as a full of fun dance-y pop track or even as a smile inducing poppy dance track.

Whatever we might decide to call it, what we are talking here is not a hardcore dance track, this is a somewhat 80s’ hook heavy boppy slice of joy. It’s full of ‘make you smile’ moments, choppy beats and holiday time synths.

Meeting that sound head-on is a song that is’ about a summer fling that you know you shouldn’t be in. It’s about meeting someone you kind of can’t stand but can’t help but be attracted to’, Su continues, ‘Ultimately I wanted to write a track about being young and having the best time. Encapsulating the feeling of a London summer; it’s cute, it’s flirty, it’s drinking too much in the park.’

Look, the time has come to stop talking here. This is fun to the max, cute as hell, full of smiles and the heat of Summer. Get your dancing shoes on, cue this up, crack the volume and dance like nobody’s watching.

The Reflecting Skin play Noise Rock. Now Noise Rock is part of a continuum of noisy chaotic music that includes Psych Grunge, Psych Garage, Doom, Sludge and others. Sometimes it’s hard to decide exactly where a band’s music actually sits; for example The Reflecting Skin fit some tinges of Psych Garage, Sludge and Doom into their sound. Sorry I got all kind of inappropriately analytic there, but I will carry on for a moment. With any of these noisy chaotic types of music, which you may dismiss as sounding all the same, and ‘just non-musical loud guitars and shouting’, the enjoyment comes in the nuance of that noise – the dynamics, the different sounds, the moments of locked in swirling sounds. This is why they don’t all sound the same and it isn’t just loud guitars and shouting.

In ‘Irreversible damage’ the band take Punk to its inevitable extreme. Raw punky riffs, vocals at the edge of shouting, tempos that speed up and slow down in a seemingly random way. The sound is at times dense and at times not. But this track is the first indication of one of the bands defining sounds – the drums. They sit high in the mix and thud as though recorded in a completely dead room.

‘Loose Hiss’ takes that sound, speeds it up, adds in a whole ton of Garage. It’s like being hit in the face by a heavy thing repeatedly. Man. I love this.

In ‘Grimace’ we hear a different sound. It has more of a Sludge/Doom/Psych Garage feel. I’m imagining here, if you wanted to know, some sort of unholy mix of The Stooges and Samothrace on acid. The track never seems to sit at one tempo for long, it speeds up, slows down, and speeds into a swirling maelstrom of sound that is both disturbing and mind-blowingly good.

Yes, this loud, yes it has heavy guitars. But immerse yourself in this, and you’ll hear nuance. The tempo changes are astounding and exhilarating. The guitar sounds are as varied as you want. The power of the band when they lock is incredible.

The overall effect of the three tracks on this EP is unsettling, there’s a darkness in the sound. However I like being unsettled and disturbed by music. I like music that comes at me in full face confrontation. I love music that dares me to dive into it, to listen with your soul rather than your head. Listen to it with that in mind, and you’ll get it.

‘II’ is bloody fantastic. The Reflecting Skin are bringing the noise in their own way, their own way. Crank it up, and turn off your head, let yourself go.

The EP is available for digital download and on cassette via Bandcamp.

Oh wow, this is bloody amazing. This burns with an emotional feel that somehow lies under what you hear. It’s chock full of beautiful sounds that thrill, that leave you gasping for breath.

I could carry on like this, but I think I need to step back for a moment here. You see when I saw that MABGATE had teamed up with August Charkes it made me more than a little excited. August Charles was my random Long Division artist last year, and what I heard was frankly astounding. He has a voice that encompasses jazz, soul and something quite theatrical, a voice that is pure emotion. I just knew that the combination of him and MABGATE would produce something amazing. I wasn’t wrong.

The sound here is a magical mix of desert blues, jazz and soul. The emotion of the track is conveyed in this angular sparse sound where instruments dart in and out over an oddly off-kilter drum. It’s sparse until a piano bursts in with a sound that sits somewhere near big band jazz and classical. Now this sounds as though it’s going to be an awkward fit, and it is to a certain extent. But you see, that’s the entire point; it’s all about communicating the emotion of the song  

And over this August Charles weaves his voice into the track, telling a story. He comments “The guys came to me at a time when I was in a situationship with an Austrian girl who came to Leeds to study… immediately when I heard the track, I knew it had to be about how I was feeling in that moment, half of me, was fighting to maintain this lacklustre relationship and the other half was trying to shine a light on the fact that she was in the wrong and I was getting crucified for saying the obvious.”

Now do you see how the mix of feels and sounds conveys the mixed feelings of the song? 

MABGATE are making some absolutely wonderful music. ‘Tell It How I See It’ is showing us another beautiful facet of their sound. This is a must listen.

The info

A part of Leeds’ vibrant jazz scene, MABGATE were formed against the backdrop of the pandemic, coming together whilst living in a converted pub that became a hub for music creation. The trio consists of drummer Richard Moulton, organist/pianist Nico Widdowson and guitarist/producer Ed Allen.

The forthcoming EP ‘MABGATE’ is the first project written and recorded outside of the confines of lockdown, widening its scope and creative process and leading to the band shedding the confines of being an ‘organ trio’. It’s a celebration of creative freedom with a cinematic approach to songwriting, contrasting euphoric melodies against tense harmony, angular riffs and expertly crafted, crunching grooves. Across the project, the band invite contributors from the Leeds community, including saxophonist Alex Fisher and bass clarinetist Joel Stedman (Ancient Infinity Orchestra).