Album Of The Month - July 2019

From the Democratic Republic of Congo it’s carnival pop riding high on synths, percussion and DIY punk attitude.

Kinshasa DRC formed Kokoko! are a collective of musicians, inventors and artists and include producer Debruit as well as featuring their own dancers (of course!). This is their debut album.

Hypnotic with jarring yet complementary unfolding melodies like petals unpeeling to release grooving riffs and jiving dancing tunes and vocal refrains. Hard to pinpoint instruments flair up with almost metallic tinges. Vocals drift in and out, call and response, chant, sing in unison and play counterpoint games with each other. This is carnival pop dancing and moving with an irresistible driving force with the mesmerising allure of kosmische and the irrepressibleness of punk. Synth and percussion meltdowns augment infectious dancing rhythms. Afrobeat handclap percussive disco paradise. If ever a band needed their own dancers it’s this one.