Demos

Fashoda Crisis - Mischief of One Kind and Another

Owain Paciuszko 18/06/2009

Rating: 4/5

From the off there's a clear Future of the Left-vibe to this debut album from Southend's Fashoda Crisis. The chunky riffs of What God Meant To Say and the shouty, opinionated vocals, matched by boisterous drumming, as they cry out 'We are the ones killing the music.' Seems like a pretty good way to die.

That Falkous inspiration is appearent on both the title style and wry lyrical content of Moremonkeythanman, with a repeated refrain of 'This is cock of the poppiest kind.' It's juvenile and smart at the same time, and is fortunately matched by a strong rock tune. If Charlie Simpson Ruled the World pits filthy Sonic Youth-style guitar licks against pop-backing vocals and System of a Down-esque vocal spasms, it's a strange brew that winds up tasting bizarrely good.

Political concerns are taken up on The Land of S.O.P with its sing-a-long chorus of 'It's Guantánamo' and statements such as 'Everyone's a terrorist', it's perhaps an easy and belated target for topical-rock, but it's a good song, which is probably more important in a music review. Fidel is a fast-paced, ear-shredding track with dumptrucks full of energy and warrants moshing even if you're listening to it on your own. Whilst Martin Luther King Zombie plays the up/down cards and menacingly whispered vocals of The Pixies to considerable effect.

Closing track Like A Normal Person begins with a Fraggle Rock bassline up against sharply, quickly, stabbed guitar and a gradually building drum roll that suggests epic things of its seven minute run-time. It ends up though sounding like a nu-metal Western with semi-spoken word vocals akin to Nada Surf's Popular, except charting - with dark humour - the ever-changing recollections of some 'event'.

Mischief of One Kind and Another is a rowdy and entertaining record, steeped in sweat and rage and humour, like a particularly demented - if occasionally life-threatening - night on the town.