Citing John Lennon, Bob Dylan and krautrock as major influences, Bandicoot‘s musical utopia sounds far further afield than their South Wales hometown of Swansea. On Worried Blues they bring their idols home with them to soundtrack life in the self-same city.
With a handful of scuzzy, blues rock numbers, two of which are sung in Cymraeg, and an album of covers on their bandcamp, their new single is further proof that these boys know how to conjure up true dirty, dark rock’n’roll noises.
The record features sparse lyrics revolving around the track’s title, an avalanche of drums, saxophone solo and a vocalist who has mastered the sublime art of crooning. If we had to compare them to their contemporaries we could say they’re a little like Foals at their grimiest, but really Bandicoot have dug their sound up from a much earlier era, owing more to Nick Drake and John Cale than musicians from the last couple of decades.
If you like what you hear, be sure to stick 4th March 2022 in your diary as that’s the release date for their debut album ‘Black After Dark’ on Libertino records.
Edge of Arcady 