This Bristol quintet are champions – or “defenders” – of the laborious bop heritage of greats similar to Horace Silver and Artwork Blakey, gamers who formed the golden age of Blue Be aware data again within the Fifties and 60s. They aren’t, nevertheless, mere nostalgists – their materials is authentic and diverse. Their third album crackles with power and glistens with ability. At its coronary heart is much-travelled keyboard participant George Cooper, who produces and composes most of their materials. Opener Meanderthal units the template: funky rhythms and a joint sax and trumpet motif adopted by solos which might be by no means indulgent.
Pushed alongside by Kasabian drummer Ian Matthews, the tempo tends to be excessive – Snakebite Playfight is a high-wire act, a chunk of sinuous ensemble taking part in – however there are moodier moments similar to Take a Minute, with Cooper on vibraphone, and an enticing rap outing by Doc Brown, Rolling on a Excessive, redolent of Guru’s Jazzmatazz. The liner word writes of “the enjoyment that dwell music can deliver”, and the album closes with a contemplative seven-minute duet between piano and bass recorded final 12 months, a distinction to all the things that’s gone earlier than. A category act.
