Release Date: Out Now

Released On:  Imprint Records

Avalable to buy and stream:  HERE

Just uttering the two words Monkey Island is enough to send some people into hours of nostalgic daydreaming about the adventures of Guybrush Threepwood (a man who can hold his breath for 10 minutes) and the sad downturn in point and click games. Sigh. How else can a man play pirate Jedi mind tricks on people? However, Monkey Island are also a garage rock band hailing from Hackney, and they have re-released their Luxe et Redux album to coincide with an exhibition of singer/guitarist Pete Bennett’s paintings, on display from April to May under the banner Unseen Paintings.

To say they are a garage rock band is only half right. Taking the spirit of Barat-led Libertines fused with blues they create something along the lines of art-punk, and it’s really quite something to listen to.  They excel in the raucous and rambunctious- there are no slow songs here for the old folk at the end of the disco. Instrumental opener BACK TO THE STONEAGE sets the scene perfectly. If you like it, you’ll love the rest. BIRDSONG isn’t quite the harmonious offering the title suggests, rather a chugging number that leads into the stunning TRUERSTORY, a savage outing with riffs-a-plenty that is reminiscent of Arbeit Macht Frei. It is the songs such as this one, C12 H18, BARBARY COAST and YOUR VIEWS HAVE BEEN NOTED that are the standouts due to their sheer ferocity. But that’s not to say that their (slightly) more restrained numbers aren’t good, far from it. The sung introduction to BUTTERMILK is a nice touch as well. In these times of short attention spans, you'd think an album with 16 tracks would be too long, but the whole thing flies by before you know it, and by the time the frantic finale to MUTTERMILCH comes around, you start to believe that more would be better if anything.

You get the impression that live they would be really intense, which is fortunately backed up by glowing reviews in Kerrang! and the NME. After hearing this, the gallery seems rather intriguing now too. If it’s as good as this album, it will be well worth checking out.

8/10

Posted In Album Reviews, Apr 01 2011. Words - Paul