Zun Zun Egui are from the musical leftfield of Bristol and like other fellow Bristol based musos (I’m thinking General Midi, Get The Blessing and Remano Eszildn of the top of my head), they meld a raft of influences that shake dance floors.

Released on Blank Tapes who are best known for the bassline hungry Bass Clef (he of A Smile is a Curve that Straightens Most Things), Zun Zun Egui have re-invented David Byrne/Franz Ferdinand as an experimental afro-rock space disco or think Artrocker meets Extra Golden.

If these three tracks are anything to go by, Zun Zun Egui are going to be massive superstars by the time they get to play the End Of The Road Festival at the Larmer Tree in a couple of months (where you’ll also find Fleet Foxes, Alela ‘To Be Still’ Diane, Steve Earl, Archie Bronson Outfit, Iain Archer, Steve Earl, The Pack A.D. just to mention a few; looks like a very good line-up to me).

There’s certainly a bit of the Archie Bronson Outfit disfunktion about Zun Zun Egui but mixed with Captain Beefheart blues, the outer space of vision of Sun Ra and King Sunny Ade’s good time ju-ju. The vocals seem to be in a cosmopolitian mix of languages befitting of a band with members that come from Mauritius and Japan.

‘Sun God’ is the modal-jazz-krautrock monster track that you could imagine them playing as the climax to a four hour gig in the traditions King Sunny Ade or the Grateful Dead. It’s got a bit a Hawkwind vibe to it (like The Time & Space Machine and Legion Of Two) but the best track is ‘Brown Mao’ that funks like a night at the Shrine or the Ariya Nightclub.

If you can’t make End Of The Road Festival or their Barbican gig (supporting Womad favourites Antibalas!), they regualarly sell out their own monthly night at the Croft in Bristol. Try and catch them now before they go global.

Forthcoming Gigs:
11th July - Watts Festival, Devon
25th July - Barbican Festival, London supporting Antibalas
1st August - The Croft, Bristol
23rd August - Green Man Festival (Main Stage), Glanusk Park, Glanusk, United Kingdom
12th September - End Of The Road Festival, Wiltshire

Reviewed: Zun Zun Egui - Bal La Poussiere EP (Blank Tapes) Cat. No: BLANK010 Release date: 20th July 2009
Tracklisting:
A1 Chunk & Swirl (4:22)
A2 Brown Mao (7:55)
B1 Sun God (9:50)

Links:
www.myspace.com/zunzunegui
www.blanktapes.org
www.endoftheroadfestival.com
Photo by Richard J. Andersen www.luximages.co.uk