Review: Cowboy Flying Saucer - Cowboy Flying Saucer

If I were to say to you, dear reader, that there exists a beast that mixes the post-punk snarl of The Fall with the socially aware polemics of Sleaford Mods all backed with some Can-like motorik, your response would surely be "show me this thing". It comes courtesy of Walthamstow's Cowboy Flying Saucer whose debut long player has just come out via Sparrowhawk Records...and it is really goddamn good.

Opener 'English Brexfast' starts with some ace kosmische, all shimmering guitar and hazy atmospheres, before the vocals kick in. I would like to think that everyone who likes great music has a soft spot for The Fall....that curmudgeonly old soak Mark E Smith is quintessentially English in his sardonic humour and scathing verbals and is as much a 'National Treasure' as Attenborough or Fry. I'm guessing that Cowboy Flying Saucer agree with me....the vocals are pure Smith in both its sound and intonation. What makes this special is that the vitriol and dry humour (a scathing attack on Brexit) is framed by some very accomplished Can-like motorik....it is a beguiling combination. 'Ruff Music' adds some groove to proceedings with drums of which Jaki would be proud and vocal structures reminiscent of Happy Mondays, with a repeating keyboard motif that gives everything a cosmic feel. 'Another Myst One' is a great instrumental full of kosmische washes of synth, reverbed psych guitar and more funky drums....worth the entry fee on its own. 'Catholic Naysayers' is filled with some retro keyboards that take us back to the seventies and another motorik groove. The vocals verge on the spoken word, again very Fall-like. 'Enemy Enima' takes you by surprise...opening with a flurry of punky guitar, sounding a bit like the Pistol's 'Silly thing' and continues in the same vein, the guitars straying from straight up punk into more proto-punk territory. 'Shaking Floors' sees the return of the kosmische with some lush washes of cosmic synth onto which is projected more Monday's like vocals....it is a hazy, chilled and yet ineffably funky number. This is followed by 'Friends I Didn't choose' which takes on a post-punk Bowie aspect full of sharp stabs of guitar over a desolate soundscape of synths and bass. 'Two Town Boys' once more opens with pure Can krautrock, jaunty of melody and metronomic of rhythm, and adds an upbeat touch before the initial darkness of album closer 'Urgh!'. Opening with a menacing drone and pulsating bassline, this track blossoms into a post-punk stormer, all Gang of Four guitar and a return of the Smith like vocals that are almost hidden beneath some fantastic keyboard work.

This album grabbed me on first listen and hasn't let go since. I can't think of another album that takes so many seemingly disparate styles and influences and moulds them into a coherent, seamless whole. It is this mix that makes this a rather special album....it is very 'English' in its outlook and humour but uses a psych/krautrock base that could have come straight from seventies Germany. Lyrically it is scathing, funny and topical and doesn't pull its punches. I'm sure the band are fed up of The Fall comparison but the vocals could be Mark E Smith at times (and as mentioned before, this is no bad thing!). All in all this rates as one of the most creative albums to which I've listened this year and I sincerely hope that it brings the guys the recognition they deserve (on that note, I will be making a big announcement very soon which involves the band). The album is available as a download or vinyl and can be purchased via their Bandcamp page here.