album-reviews – devizine.com

Daft monkeys, three of ‘em, and I was proved wrong. It seems monkeys are indigenous to Cornwall, and they bring their monkey business to you with their stupendous new album, Information Camouflage…

Believing is not always seeing; I see four members of Cornish gypsy-folk Three Daft Monkeys, assuming one doesn’t wish to identify as simian, at least not a daft one! Describing their latest release as “a rich, life-affirming tapestry that masterfully blends world folk inspirations with wild punk-infused energy and modern storytelling,” they’re not fibbing about that, it’s fast, furious with pithy prose and bonkers beats.

Imagine Dylan warbled The Times They Are A-Changin’ with samples, brazen fiddles, a cidered Cornish choir and breakneck Balkan beats at a west country festival chock full of drunken jester-hat wearing revellers, if you care to, and you’ll be nowhere near as potty as the opening to Information Camouflage, Power to the Peaceful, causing me to believe, as I suspected, I’m going to like this, a lot.

I’m going to like it because I’m eclectic and yearn for the alternative, the quirky and curious counterculture, and this bears such hallmarks. But importantly, it does so proficiently, with traditional punkish elements, but not amateurishly, as punk was, debatably, in days of yore.

Dipping into a melting pot of whatever happens to tickle their fancy without the confines of mundane normality, the title track follows, levels down the tempo, slightly, with a gypsy-ska bounce. It’s continuing with the trenchant epigrammatic against tedious and deceitful conventions, a running theme which intensifies. The Fiji Mermaid, which follows, however, is dreamy psychedelic vaudeville, and frivolous.

First formed at the dawn of the millennium, they regularly supported The Levellers, and the next three songs reflect that tension and angered resistance to conformity. There’s an acute and poignant side to 3 Daft Monkeys, it’s fierce and floods you in fiddles and free party vibes, yet retains subtle elements of circus noir. In other words, no deep meaning is going to prevent you jigging barefoot in mud, with no idea or care what happened to your boots.

But it’s not the meld of the opposite sides, fun and seriousness, for that’s common, rather the balance of the two. If Bob Marley’s Kaya is joyful and Survival is militant, Exodus finds that perfect balance, Information Camouflage is 3 Daft Monkeys’ Exodus. This is My Call, is a prime example of this, rising and falling musically and equally in mood. Easily, which follows eight tracks in, returns us to the airy, with subtle bhangra vibes.

It’s from a vast melting pot of influences which makes the best-defined “scrumpy & western” brew of UK folk, 3 Daft Monkeys stir the pot with gusto, edge and expertise. The final three tunes to this eleven track strong masterpiece doesn’t wait for you to get onboard, it’s a frenzied fiddles finale, a west country hoedown, with an acapella last tune.

All this album has done, other than entertain me highly, is confirm that, if they were playing a festival I’m at, and my mates wanted to go do something different, I’d be saying “see you later,” and making haste for the stage 3 Daft Monkeys are on!

3 Daft Monkeys funded this project with a huge independent CrowdFunder campaign, showing clearly how loved this band is by their ever-increasing global fan base.

Information Camouflage is available now as download and CD from www.3daftmonkeys.co.uk/SHOP .Release date for online streaming platforms: 1st November 2024. There’s an autumn tour on their website, closest to here is the Exchange, Bristol on November 2nd.

“This is not just an album, but an experience,” the band explained, “a kaleidoscopic journey through sound and emotion that celebrates life, love, and the resilient human spirit. It’s a testament to 3 Daft Monkeys’ dedication to their craft and their unwavering connection with their fans, offering a soundtrack that invites you to dance, reflect, and revel in the magic of music.”