The term Jazz-Punk has been thrown around when it comes to Robocobra Quartet and whilst I’m not quite sure if that fits, it’s do as a descriptor for now. Their latest offering ‘Mizaru’ is an enjoyable mix of downtempo marauding jazz style backing that builds tension as the track progresses. Occasionally they take the Saxophone for a walk too, combine this with a spoken word accompaniment and you have something angry and punchy and ethereal all at the same time. Released on the 16th October you can have a wee listen to Mizaru below and if you fancy a purchase then here’s the deets!
Limited run lathe-cut 7″ vinyl on Smalltown America
Digital download on Abbreviated Records.
Lyrically exploring two of the three proverbial “wise monkeys”, the latest release from Belfast’s spoken-word-infused jazz/punk quartet finds the personal tangled with the social. This comes in the form of Mizaru’s melancholic re-appropriation of an MP’s 1932 speech and Iwazaru’s self-deprecating look at “speaking no evil” that brashly pairs a lyrical call-back to The Who and a Gandhi quote in the same stanza. Robocobra Quartet’s ever-present pleading lead vocal is cradled by an effect-heavy instrumental that morphs in sympathy to each word spoken, offering up saxophone stabs, latin drum patterns and distorted bass guitar when and where appropriate.
In the lead-up to this release Robocobra Quartet will be performing at Electric Picnic Festival in Ireland and doing a weekend of shows in England/Wales:
Fri 04 Sept – Electric Picnic Festival, Co. Laois, IE
Fri 25 Sept – The Magic Garden, London, UK
Sat 26 Sept – Four Bars, Cardiff, UK
Sun 27 Sept – The Mothers’ Ruin, Bristol UK
