Fergus & Geronimo - Funky Was the State of Affairs (CD)

From the off  I fell in love with this album, basically because it sounds more like classic late 70’s Brit post-punk ala The Monochrome Set or some crazy alien-obsessed band unearthed on the Messthetics comps rather than a modern day band from Texas and when it does sound more “American” it channels the brilliant oddness of cult nutters Devo, Ween or even early Richard Hell than anything currently “trendy”! Between these fizzy scratch-pop gems, chiming new-wave style anthems, and tumbling possessed garage nuggets are these kind of weird excerpts and interludes ranging from eccentric psychedelic industrial noise, fucked-up ‘n’ comical dialogue-based segments, feedback drenched weirdness or even brief chunks of shimmering lounge jazz.

One track, ‘Roman Tick’  beautifully juxtaposes say, early Pavement and The B-52s in style and such irresistible surf influences rear their head again on the excellent ‘Spies’ which has such a gorgeous ease of delivery, like perfect driving pop from another dimension. The title track concludes affairs and begins as a slice of punk-funk with mad jazz sax before transforming itself into a blistering, deranged psychedelic funk workout that George Clinton would stick two be-jewelled thumbs up at I'm confident.

Never before have their songs caught my ear like this, like when their previous singles and album ‘Unlearn’ have been aired. So it’s a pleasant surprise to declare this the first great new album I've heard this week, the songs are properly charming and additively catchy and the album is a real fun blast throughout and obviously lovingly crafted so get involved, their time is now......