Cassette Review // Ubiquitous Meh! "SouthWay Gothic"

£6.66 //
https://ubiquitousmeh.bandcamp.com/album/southway-gothic //

Deep bass rocks the place.    The singing comes in and this has a certain darkwave sound to it, sort of like Illegal Wiretaps but also like The Clash somehow.   As it can feel hollow, with echoes, I'm thinking of The Doors now as well.  The music really sings along with the words, which is so great.   The way these notes tick back and forth with the horn-like blows behind them can also feel hypnotic, they can start to put you in a trance.

Drum machines now change the tone to fun and there are these keys blipping in as well.   The vocals keep that punk feeling alive.    "We Are The Funeral Band!" (which is both the song title and the chorus) has such a vibe to it where you feel like they really are, but it also just makes me think of bedroom pop in some weird way.    The music is complex and overall doesn't make me think of bedroom anything immediately (or pop) but it's there, even if somewhat hidden.

The third song brings about these whooshes and magical synths which for whatever reason make me think of a cartoon, like "Adventure Time".   The vocals come back and I'm taken right back to that punk thought.  I know it might not go well together, but is "bedroom punk" a thing?  Because this could be something along those lines if it means what I want it to mean.

Frequency whirrs start things off on the flip side.   Drum machines kick in and it has that Gogol Bordello feel to it in some ways, but also that garage rock vibe of the Priests or the Briefs.   There is that definite energy in here though, which makes me think punk, and then the keys also go all '80s like new wave.    The next song begins with tones like a video game though, something from that Street Fighter arcade era of gaming.

An instrumental song now shows us what the keys can do.    The tones ting through almost like meows and then we get into a faster swirl of a song.    I just love that with these songs I can think back to bands like Madcap and River City Rebels and just know that if it was ten or more years ago, I would've seen Ubiquitous Meh! on a bill somewhere with that show that's not quite punk and not quite ska, but oh boy are you going to have fun in the pit.