About this item

A ‘collection of songs’ is the most accurate description for this album. Unlike most of King Gizz's releases, 'Gumboot Soup' isn’t held together by any semblance of a concept, leading many to dub it a sequel to their 2014 hotchpotch 'Oddments'. Still, there is one relatively consistent element: 'Gumboot Soup' is Gizz’s most thorough embrace of melody ever, with the band going all in on infectious psych-pop tunes. 'Beginner’s Luck' – not just because of its gambling-based lyrics – does this particularly well, sprinkled with Beatles influence and topped off with an exhilaratingly erratic wah-wah guitar solo. The penultimate track 'I’m Sleepin’ In commits to this idea even further, with a beat so catchy it practically begs to be clapped along to.

Elsewhere, the band blend this direction with the jazz-prog rhythms of the previous two records 'Polygondwanaland' and 'Sketches of Brunswick East'. 'Barefoot Desert' and 'The Last Oasis' – both fronted by harmonica player Ambrose Kenny-Smith – achieve this in two distinct ways. The former’s tight groove and yelpy vocals give it a slight Talking Heads vibe, whilst the latter’s heavenly vocals and lush instrumentation sound like a hypnagogic re-imagining of a 'SoBE' track. 'Muddy Water' – as well as being the third Gizz song named after a description of water – is an enthralling prog folk flurry that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Jethro Tull album, elaborately intertwining acoustic guitar, bass and drum rhythms. Later on, Cook Craig fronts 'Down the Sink', a delectable slice of funk rock unlike anything else the group have done before.

TRACK LISTING

1. Beginner's Luck
2. Greenhouse Heat Death
3. Barefoot Desert
4. Muddy Water
5. Superposition
6. Down The Sink
7. The Great Chain Of Being
8. The Last Oasis
9. All Is Known
10. I'm Sleepin' In
11. The Wheel