Opening track ‘Pirate Song’ epitomises this tendency perfectly; it sounds like it might be an out-take from a 21st Century re-working of Fiddler On The Roof, and if that sounds like a good thing to you, then we’ll just have to agree to disagree. Luckily, the band are capable of creating inventive music without slipping into parody.

‘Disco In 4 Pieces’ and ‘We Float In Time’ blend disco guitar, addictive keyboard noises and tinges of electronica in a similar manner to Chin Chin (although it lacks their innate style); ‘Rats’ is a (surprisingly) pleasant down-tempo affair while ‘Evil Laughs’ is a sleazy sax-led number that sounds like it should have been on the soundtrack of Angel Heart.

But in too many instances the band’s seeming desire to show how funny, or eccentric they are, ruins what otherwise might have been good tracks. ‘Dead Men Walk In A Straight Line’ is a perfect example of this; from its “funny” name to the wailings of twin vocalists Hackett and Joyette, the whole thing reminds me of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, except without the laughs. Title track ‘Insect Funk’ meanwhile, lives up to its title far too much: it actually does sound like funk played by a stick insect. Not good.

If Elmore Judd could just restrain themselves when they get the urge to show-off these (rather lame) art-school stylings, then their music would be perfectly pleasant. Not exactly groundbreaking then, but certainly worth a listen.

Apparently the studio where the band recorded Insect Funk burned down and they were only able to retrieve the songs they had recorded by sending the equipment it was recorded on back to the manufacturers. It’s just a shame that the engineers managed to retrieve every track, as the album would have been stronger with a few of them missing.

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