- Melbourne’s Bananagun are an oddity within the Australian Indie scene. While psychedelia acts look to the future with electronic influences, the six-piece band has instead reiterated the past with a focus on afrobeat and '67’s Summer of Love. First catching my eye with excellent singles, the ensemble continue to lay down a never-ending groove on their debut album The True Story of Bananagun.
Opening track Bang Go The Bongos feels like a loving call back to the Wall of Sound with an immediate hit of animal calls, jangling guitar lines and infectious bongos. Vocally, the group is a less soulful and more subdued Fifth Dimension as they lyrically detail themselves as very average people. The band prove themselves in sync, with impeccable timing in both their instrumentals and catchy adlibs.
“Money talks to people; people talk too much” are the only lyrics on the nearly seven-minute People Talk Too Much but the simple refrain is all that is needed. While not saying a lot with the lyrics, Bananagun continue to speak through their orchestra as they build off previous tracks with added trumpet lines and strong electric guitar solos. The length of the track is barely felt thanks to the sheer number of different instruments that the band layers, all while never missing a beat of the lush and gorgeous afro-jam.
Lead single Out of Reach is a foray into pop which still retains that afro-beat fusion sound. Built around a hook of simple na-na-nas, the song is a daydream of lazing around a creek during summer. Lead singer Nick Van Bakel is on a mission to win his lover’s affection and quite honestly if someone sang this to me, it would be hook, line and sinker. The band yet again show off their on-point timing as when conductor Nick yells “hold it” several times before last chorus, the instruments know just what to do.
She Now sounds like a Velvet Underground & Nico track on speed as Nick and back up singer Zoe Fox go toe-to-toe with lyrics about growing out your hair and gaining self-confidence. The first half is a funky Hendrix like, blown-out jam with a driving bass section. The song grows in the second half attaining speeds that are almost threatening. Rushing towards the finish line, every instrument builds to reach an orgasmic final refrain and guitar solo.
Modern Day Problems focuses on a different type of '60's influence: opting for the earlier years of the decade rather than the latter. The guitars are straight off the beach with surf-rock riffs that are both crunchy and wavy. The vocal performance pulls things into the present, however, with references to technology and the strife of everyday issues weighing on the brain. The track closes strongly with a reinterpretation of the classic opening riff of Sean Connery era Bond.
The True Story of Bananagun is a winner in just about every way a debut album could be. The afro instrumentals never miss a beat while the minimal writing knows when to strike hot. There are barely any misses (bar the clearly King Gizz inspired Mushroom Bomb), Bananagun are very rarely owned by their influences, instead their deft touch produces a nostalgic sound and a paradox, because it's all their own.
- James Chadwick.