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Zun Zun Egui

Review of Katang 2011 in Mojo

Strikingly original first album from West Country quartet whose name means 'moving rapidly towards weirdness' in Japanese.

Admirers of Zun Zun Egui's exuberant 2009 debut EP Bal La Poussiere will be relieved to discover that their surprise signing to Bella Union has not precipitated a sudden stylistic shift towards back-porch Americana.  Never mind the sepia-tinted ruminants – The Mars Volta gone Afropop or an Indian Ocean Magic Band would be closer to the mark.  Singing in French, Japanese and Malaysian Creole, as well as English, these frenetic Bristolians push the envelope of even their home city's cosmopolitan musical heritage.  And when Katang's exotic jazz-thrash attack suddently coalesces into more traditional pop and rock song-structures – as it does on the hell-catchy Fandango Fresh or the breezy Sirocco (which could easily be the work of a polyglot White Denim) – the effect is truly thrilling.  In short, strong meat but delicious.  Can't think of a better way to spend the dividend provided by the Fleet Foxes success.

Review of latest EP, Kass to la Senn, released early 2011

ZZE return with the long overdue follow up to last years excellent ‘Bal La Poussiere’ EP and again, it's a total winner. Here we are treated to two wildy confident compositions that match the cosmic with the sub-tropical to create vast and epically groovy tunage. A side 'Speedball' seems to touch on a little of everything from Krautrock, cosmic psych, new wave and afro-beat whilst maintaining a solid consistency throughout. It bobs and weaves, it drops and sways and returns again and again for more. It's powerful stuff that sees boredoms-esque synth soundscapes battle it out against a backdrop of lively grooves and motivational vocal outbursts. It's like a hundred different tunes in one! Flip it and you get 'Praise The Waterfall', a trip in two parts and the highlight of the set last time I saw them in Leeds. Pt 1 'Spirit Rising' is an exercise in astral-beat (that cosmic afro-beat to you and me) madness that sees Kushal Gaya getting crazy on the mic and the band play like their very existence depends on it. It slowly evolves into 'Spirit Dancing' finally succumbing to an eastern influenced cosmic super jam that sees the band going all out once again, concluding what has essentially being an epic journey of an EP. Can't recommend these guys highly enough. Super confident, excellently played liquid afro-funk at it's finest.

Reviews of first EP, Bal la Poussiere, released late 2009

Another review

What is it about Bristol that it occassionally throws out something completely different to the rest of the country? It's more than likely its ease with its own cultural diversity and you can't really get a better example in sound and band constituents than Zun Zun Egui. Hailing from Mauritius, Japan and Brizzle of course, when i first heard them live it was difficult to place them in any genre and that is always a good sign of people trying to do something different. Of course you'll get that from band members with different musical and cultural backgrounds who are allowed to express themselves.

Some songs are short and have their own particular mood, some are pretty long which draw you in hypnotically only to throw you off balance by going on another tangent. It could be bright and celebratory, abstract, acid rocky, latino, african sounding, who knows?! All of the instruments serve to drive the rhythm at times and thats one thing i have to say about them, slow or fast they have a good idea of a great beat. Put it this way, if my dear 65 year old mother can go and watch Stevie Wonder at Hyde Park and find Zun Zun Egui the only interesting band other than Stevie, surpassing the likes of Jamiroquai and Corrinne Bailey Rae, then something must be right.