80's Death Rock legends Inca Babies are back with the bands latest album Swamp Street Soul. This isn't as bass heavy as The Stereo Plan the bands last full album in 2014. This one has been produced by Simon Archer and Harry Stafford is joined in the current Inca Babies line-up by Vince Hunt and Rob Haynes. As ever they continue with the bands traditional sound, that would hopefully make Bill Martens smile wherever he is on the other side.
The album opens with the title track Swamp Street Soul that's a swampy jazz-tinged invocation of hope for a better day as the roof falls in and everything is collapsing all around you in the middle of the current hellscape hoping the trumpets will save your soul from being totally swamped by it all.
Walk In The Park is bruised dark and has hints of malevolence round the corner after dark with the pace of the walk dictated by the sure footed strummed guitar as they try to make sense of everything going on around them.
Slingshot take aim at the dark heart of things like all good Inca Babies tunes have tended too, with a nicely off-centre guitar solo punctuating the tale like the shot has punctuated someone skin as the weird percussive effects start to strafe across your speakers.
Dear English Journalists please give Inca Babies the dues they truly deserve, say nice things about them, as they really are the sort of legends that you should appreciate, don't rubbish them, or make fun of their obsessions and they will reward you, by sending you Harry Stafford's solo albums as well as the Inca Babies latest greatest releases. Or something like that.
Crawling Garage Gasoline is the first real Death Rock classic sounding like Nick Cave back when he was still quite deranged live, this has a rumbling blues riff with all sorts of stuff firing off if it, as you hope beyond hope that the Gasoline doesn't ignite and make your hellish reality a rather hot one, as you slink along with the pounding bassline.
Bigger Than All Of Us has a more low-fi angular feel to it with fizzing guitars and an insistent two note piano solo that leads into the guitar mangling solo.
I'm Grounded has a staccato Bo Diddley walking blues feel to it as Harry tells us he's grounded like the rest of the world now is under lockdown, as Harry tries to figure what he did in the war, other than cower in a shelter, no he claims his Zeppelin crashed.
Oh, The Angels are crying out to escape before everything is turned to ashes in the wind, as this funereal song is sung from the point of view of someone who feels the flames licking at his heels on the pyre.
Windshield Gnat is a top insult, as this song of joyriding and high speed hi-jinks unfolds, as they turn her adversary into the titular Windshield Gnat, who is in the ground rather than splattered all over the laminated screen.
Mine Of Bones takes us down into Harry's favorite ossuary and on a tour of all the bones he finds there as phased guitars swirl around and we go deeper and deeper underground to get to the bottom of the Mine Of Bones a truly ghost like classic.
The album closes with Swamp Soul Dub that is a dark distended dub version of the opening song with more gating and effects to keep you rooted deep in that swamp with the trumpets coming on like a Tapper Zukie Horns dub special.
Find out more at https://incababies1.bandcamp.com/album/swamp-street-soul https://www.facebook.com/incababies
