Django Django don’t sound anything like what their name sounds like. Of course, they sound like the sounds they make, but those sounds are not the sounds of their namesake.

You won’t find any Quintette du Hot Club de France covers or odes to Reinhardt and Grappelli. The London quartet take a fresh approach that’s hard to define. Essentially we’re talking live instrumentation with electronic artefacts sprinkled into the mix.

Heavy blues influences come through in “Firewater”, with slide guitar echoing the Mississippi delta. The electronic accompaniment would surely have been sought after by Leadbelly and Robert Johnson, were it around in their day. “Default”, which is being touted as definite single material, begins with a glitch rock vocal effect and is heavily electronic so I don’t understand why I keep seeing a barnyard in my head. There’s just something rustic about it. Likewise, there is something very country about “Hand of Man”; whereas “Hail Bop” initially had me convinced I was about to revisit the Mighty Boosh’s radio show, but only for a few seconds. Then it was Go-go dancers and a Mike Myers impersonator waving his bare chest in my face. Is my rye crop infected or did the greengrocer sell me dodgy Portobellos?

The electro Appalachian melodies of “Waveforms” and “Wor” are likewise intriguing and offer a welcome break from the current trends. Essentially, the Django Django specimen displays several useful mutations, and given the opportunity to breed may give life to a new species. Forgive me; I’ve recently watched X-Men.

Review Score 7.7/10