Ufo goes Ufa

Belgium must surely be the Twilight Zone of Rock ‘n Roll, within its borders identity is a ghost-image at best, and musical genres cross-pollinate and morph with the same dreamlike abandon. Proof of this is Ufo goes Ufa, an Anglo-Belge collaboration, which will take you down the rabbit-hole and through the wall to the dark corners of Rock ‘n Roll’s twisted psyche. Pop Garage Symphony No. 9, their first album, stampedes gleefully through assorted styles like a shoplifter in a graveyard. Twanging pop melodies mesh with lo-fi garage fuzz guitars, in a Beefheart-induced sci-fi landscape. The shambolic genius of The Fall collides with the psycho violin and primitive beats of The Velvet Underground, as analogue synths slide and throb over the whole opus like alien tentacles. Lyrically, there’s a huge green fluorescent dose of subterranean B-movie sub-culture running through its veins. Zombies and serial killers, S&M barberellas and vengeful bluesmen rub shoulders with the sleazy demise of the Summer of Love and Kerouac’s holy deadbeat epiphanies. Songs are the result of the combined efforts of Northern English exile Briandroid on vocals and synths, and his acolytes the charming Sophie Galet on drums and percussion, and Pascal Scalp, bassist from Jacques Duvall’s Phantom combo. Guitars and arrangements are provided by Miam Monster Miam, who signed the band to his Freaksville label after hearing the song ‘Hong Kong Slasher’. At the helm is legendary producer Kramer, creator of the seminal Shimmy Disc label, with a wealth of production credits behind him with artists such as Butthole Surfers, Galaxie 500, Bongwater and Jon Spencer to name but a few.With such talent and inventiveness involved, it’s clear that Ufo goes Ufa goes some way to cementing Belgium’s surreal and mutated presence in the pantheon of modern music.