Leeds’ Mama Scuba stuff their musical blender with quality influences but retain enough of themselves to create a flavour all of their own. Formed in 2000 their reputation is growing apace on the back of two well-received and resolutely independent singles ‘Pouche’ and ‘Snow’ that had NME, Melody Maker and Radio 1 salivating. They’ve stayed in Leeds to (finally) record their debut long player, a record that throws up a multitude of new possibilities for the band in terms of direction and sound.
Wes Dale’s vocals recall a long line of rocking front-men with falsettos: Ben Bentley (Sweet Jesus), Mark Greaney (JJ72), Andrew Montgomery (Geneva) and Greg Gilbert of current darlings The Delays. Of the four it’s the first two with whom the band have a greater musical affinity. But in truth that’s saying little as it’s only a fraction of the input that other artists have on Mama Scuba’s sound.
Opener ‘Infinite Bleak’ is the track that most reminds me of the aforementioned Sweet Jesus but Franz Ferdinand also lurks in the rhythm. There’s a welcome surprise with the unexpected piano-led bridge that hints at the greater dynamic within the band for the remainder of the album. ‘Who Are, You Are’ has Black Francis fighting with Morrissey for control of the wheel of a hurtling juggernaut: it also throbs like a good’un. ‘Squeaky Clean’ and ‘Freak Accident’ suggest a looser but equally discordant Clinic while ‘The Untouchable’ conjures up the image of Jane’s Addiction enjoying a rumble with Radiohead on the unlit streets of Camberwick Green (no, I don’t know what that means either).
‘El Shake’ is Pavement as heavy, scuzzy rock and ‘Make A Stance’ is a wonderful glam-stomp with Fall overtones but the psychedelic coda again opens up more possibilities. ‘White Siberian Lines’ has me reminiscing and singing “Crack, Crack Crackity Jones” later in the day while the Tex-Mex twang of Joey Santiago’s guitar is evoked by the tantalisingly brief ‘Silver Stranger’. And as for the singles, well they are both absolute beauties that have not withered on the vine sine their original release, ‘Snow’ in particular with its Velvet’s inspired arrangement.
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The track ‘Jenifer Lenz’ is the final pearl in an already overcrowded shell. A slow-burning psychedelic-lite epic that finger-clicks from the start, strides out and ultimately breaks out in a glorious Who-like chord strike – which kind of brings us back to (Live In) Leeds where it all started. And before I forget, the drummer is fantastic and will not have Keith Moon turning in his grave.
‘You’re A Long Time Dead, So What’s The Hurry?’ takes the listener on a kaleidoscopic musical journey that name-checks a good crowd of definitive artists along the way. But that comment alone limits them, provoking the argument that they’re nothing more than musical magpies offering an album of Xeroxed collages that lack individuality or coherency. Far from it, this is a band with a large swag-bag that bulges with as many good ideas of their own as stolen from others – and come on, all the best bands nick it from somewhere!
On this first showing Mama Scuba could repeat the whole process for album number two and still make it sound different, such is their skill in adapting influences into their own brand of art-rock.
Whatever comes around next time around this is an early contender for debut of 2005.
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