Lauded as Lias Saoudi’s favourite band, stalwarts of the Brixton scene Meatraffle have released 'Hi Fi Classics'. The album is an interesting mix of dub, reggae and jazz, which does not show a preference for any of the musical forms on offer, but brings them seamlessly together. The pared-down drum machine rhythms and sometimes brooding bass lines are enlivened by the brass section and the vocals of Za Za Sapien. Lyrically, the album runs from the political, on tracks like 'Wickerman', to the fantastical, as seen in 'The Greenfly and the Rose'.
Beginning with the suitably sinister 'Oppenheimer' with its frantic, repetitive chorus and menacing bass and brass, the album is fresh and interesting. Whilst jazz may currently be an under-appreciated musical form, Meatraffle have mixed it so thoroughly with other forms, it is sometimes hard to untangle from the other glorious elements present here. Aurora has a distinct whiff of Jamaica, whilst the laid-back cool of 'The Horseshoe' is pure 1960’s chic. 'Follow Dog', which was previously released on the Trashmouth Records compilation 'Thinking of Moving to Hastings' along with Oppenheimer, reminds me of early Hawkwind, with an excellent early 1970s messiness. On some tracks the unusual lyrics drive the song. 'Madam Hi Fi', written in praise of Za Za Sapien’s wife Rosaria, and 'Nice Young Couple', with its increasingly frenzied repetitive chorus use the vocals creatively and to good effect. This album is probably as far from mainstream indie as you can get, possibly coming under the wider umbrella of ‘alternative music’, whatever that means. In many ways Meatraffle have produced music that is impossible to label, and all the better for that. Hi Fi Classics shows just how far you can fly once you break free of current musical conventions.
Meatraffle will be supporting The Fat White Family on their upcoming tour, and you can listen to Meatraffle here: soundcloud.com/hifi-classics