Devil’s Doorbell Live EP from the Pump

It’s any wonder if this bonkers jazz skiffle duo found a double-entendre in the name of Trowbridge’s finest live music venue, The Pump, when they visited at the beginning of the month in support for Jaz DeLorean, being they’re the boater’s royalty of euphemisms, but at least they did find time to release a recording of the occasion……

A judiciously selected four-track EP acting as a teaser for this asinine pair, Devil’s Doorbell is up on Bandcamp, recorded live at The Pump by the man Kieran J Moore, and while it might be some way from Dark Side of the Moon, it’s a half-hour of carefree jollity your life might yet depend on.

In true circus cabarert and homemade instruments, Nipper plays tenor banjo and kazzumpet, while Jellylegs Johnson is on the washtub bass, and both tend to finish each other’s lyrics with hilarious consequences over some good ol’ foot-tapping scrumpy and western flavoured skiffle. Take it no more seriously than this.

Rife with retrospective euphemistic rhymes, rudeness is abound from the start, mocked in goofy George Formby subtlety, Carry-On titillation and Pythonesque nonsense; it’s a west country thing! My Girl’s Pussy opens the EP, reminiscent of Eric Idle’s Noel Coward charade, Penis Song. Hot Nuts continues the ooh matron theme, while a slip of self-fashioned blues plays out with When I Get Low I get High, and we’re back to square one with Rattle Snakin’ Daddy. Dammit though, it’s frolicking fun now, would’ve tickled the 1930s New Orleans high-energy jazz circuit pink, if only they were allowed in with wellies!

If it’s jazzy it’s silly in equal measure, yet with one eye squint you can envision yourself haphazardly perched on a log in dew-drenched tallgrass, near a Kennet & Avon towpath, swigging flat cider and thoroughly soaking up every minute, particularly during those random moments when they up the tempo.

And if you like this audacious audio, the stage show is the visual treat you’d expect from those crazy west country boaters, all props, burlesque, and silly hats, and you couldn’t contemplate a better way to tickle the fancy and warm the crowd in your humble boozer, other than a real ringing of the devil’s doorbell. You can book them at your own risk, HERE.