Tag: cornish

Information Camouflaged by Three Daft Monkeys

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.”

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Land Ahoy! Jolly Roger Opens Devizes Arts Festival with Fire in the Hole!

Land ahoy me hearties! Devizes Corn Exchange was boarded last night by Cornish punk pirates Jolly Roger, for a frivolous and swashbuckling opening to Devizes Arts Festival; the face that launched a thousand ships was witness to it….

That’s me, if it wasn’t obvious, landlubbers, the face! For although it’s Devizine assemble, to bring you coverage of the forthcoming fortnight of music, comedy, talks and walks, for this splice of the mainbrace you lucky lot have got the toothless editor to shiver yer timbers. And blow me down, those buccaneers battened down the hatches and gave us a cheerful chantey carousel, at least, I liked it!

Under the ethos of what being a pirate in the 21st century means, Jolly Roger is precisely as claimed on the tin, and in that,  the balance between the punk element and shanties of yore will always be a debatable matter. I’d imagine a few elders in the audience favoured them leaning on folk, and a ragged old sailor spinning yarns under gentler rhythms. Yet while themes included pirate subjects and phrases, including Davy Jones’ locker, et al, and they practise audience participation diligently, Jolly Roger are contemporary, and punkish shenanigans offsets the balance. That’s the method I’d savour, and in this it was never cliché.

It was loud and sprightly unpretentious punkish tomfoolery with a pirate theme, yet, at times there was concentrated and thought-provoking narratives in their original material too. Euphoric tunes such as the most poignant Silent Mountain temporarily broke the frenzy, whereas characters like a bloke who props up the bar, conveyed this is a three sheets to the wind partying band to be taken tongue-in-cheek, but, dressed as pirates kinda gave that game away!

It’s not experimenting, rather pounding classic ground akin to Ferocious Dog, joyfully and professionally. For if Adam Ant broke the bitter reality hook of punk by incorporating fun subjects like pirates, native Americans or anything else he read about in Look-In, and folk blended a regional sound we affectionately dub scrumpy and western, here’s a dandy, and fun-filled fusion worthy of your attention. Think the Pouges-lite with a pasty and tricorne, for while there were a few expletives, it was hospitable enough to cater for open minded children of the festival.

Yet, it was a show perhaps best suited for a rowdy corner pub in a Cornish back lane, where the scent of salt air melds with that of wet dog hair carpet; such is our Arts Festival’s penchant for presenting us diversity, noteworthy when scanning the forthcoming programme. There’s something for everyone, it just needs everyone to take heed of this notion and throw away any preconceptions you may have about this wonderful occasion in Devizes. For instance, tonight Lady Nade arrives, an international act hailing from Bristol, who if you haven’t heard before, take it from me, her songwriting skills and soulful expression sublimely blesses Americana in something wholly unique and unmissable. So, tickets are on the door, don’t miss it!

As for Jolly Roger, well it was a superb performance and a grand opening for Devizes Arts Festival. Onlookers gazed at this fiery swashbuckling gang as their infectious jigs ordered them to break rank and jiggle. The band tour extensively across the UK festival circuit, do look out for them, with a telescope in the crow’s nest if necessary! These pirates of Penzance were a fire in the hole, excellently entertaining, me hearties!

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