It’s in the trees… it’s coming
Who They?
It’s all a bit mysterious, with a mystical and nonsensical back story about them emerging from the woods before relocating to East London. Basically they’re Ents out of a Tolkien novel wearing suits playing synths and guitars, you know, a sort of woodland Residents.
Why Snapped Ankles?
Their new EP, ‘The Best Light Is The Last Light’, bristles with urgent drive. Opener ‘Johnny Guitar Calling Gosta Berlin’ steps into the fine tradition of singing about someone called Johnny. It worked for Chuck Berry. And Fine Young Cannibals. And by gum it does the trick for Snapped Ankles and their eight-minute epic of motorik drums, organic bass and riot of pulsing synths which explode into constellations of gleaming stars as the piece reaches its extended and glorious climax. Matters of taste aside, ‘Fukushima Failure’ catchily treads between early Wire and Gang Of Four jerking puppet funk, while ‘Director’s Nostalgia’ is more like Mark E Smith genetically spliced with ‘Rattus Norvegicus’-era Hugh Cornwell.
Tell Us More…
When a band is using a character, Gösta Berling, from a Swedish novel published in 1891 (filmed in 1924 starring Greta Garbo) as a reference, you know you’re in safe hands. These arty tricksters are also in the middle of a film trilogy, called, obscurely, ‘The Spaghetti Trilogy’. There’s a handful of shows booked over the next few months, and there’s an album coming in September. Then we’ll get the full measure of these tree people.
‘The Best Light Is The Last Light’ EP is out on The Leaf Label
