Edinburgh quartet Bwani Junction is one of the UK’s most hotly tipped bands.
Their suburban indie-pop sounds are infused with tribal drums, reggae rhythms and other musical influences. Their début album, Fully Cocked was released in 2011.
This week Bwani Junction played the historic Abbey Road studios, as part of a series of acoustic sessions planned by Absolute Radio’s Sunday Night Music Club and hosted by Pete Donaldson. [www.absoluteradio.co.uk/onair/sunday-night-music-club]
On Tuesday we saw the boys play their enthralling set in Studio 3 at Abbey Road. [The performance will be transmitted on Absolute Radio’s Sunday Night Music Club.]
When Bwani Junction play acoustically, stripped down to their working vests, their passionate songs have a real chance to shine through. This is also when those Zimbabwe ‘Bhundu Boys’ comparisons start to make sense. Played acoustically, their material seems fresh, rare and lively. It feels unfettered. Harmonies are rosy flushed, percussion is lofty, and the guitar has the ability to inspire.
In ‘All The Same Tricks’ a gentle bongo ( from Jack Fotheringham) travels merrily along, as the glittering guitar starts to shine. Tiny pinches of voice tip the guitar tenderly towards that harmonious chorus. Then we all sing “Do not fall for all the same tricks …” When performed acoustically, by singer Rory Fairweather, this song creates just the right amount of sensitivity within a fairly optimistic framework. Clever lyrics pull at your heart strings, leaving you with an unforgettable and uncomfortable feeling of remorse .
In ‘Roots Too Deep’ flavours are concertinaed against the gushing chorus. Pin-point accurate guitars choose to let in the light from the sub-text, and the verse is delicately unspun. The guitar-work of Dan Muir shines through, thriving and prosperous, while bass notes from Fergus Robson swell into the slots.
‘Civil War’ has wavelets of effusive guitar sound – and these surge out like longed for water from a stand-pipe on dry earth. As the verse passages its way along a predetermined path, the pace is increased a notch, until you get to that glorious chorus. It has a certain sadness to it. Guitars continue to bubble along though, moving as close to the decanted voices as they can get, until you feel the pensive tension increase, and the shared feeling of regret bites you in the back of your throat.
Tune into Absolute Radio this Sunday to hear the performance:
www.absoluteradio.co.uk/onair/sunday-night-music-club
Link: http://www.facebook.com/Bwanijunction
– © Neil_Mach November 2012 –
RAW RAMP 