Argentinean trio, Las Kellies, have turned up with their third album Kellies a blast of reggae tinged post punk that sounds like they’ve been communing with the ghost of Ari Up and teaching her Spanish.
With the exception of the four minute long ‘Adwenture’ the 14 tracks on Kellies don’t break the three minute barrier. They turn up steal your brain for a short while and then bugger off leaving a smile and a memory of something exciting. It’s an album of effervescent post punk that fizzes like a Steradent tablet in a glass of Pepsi. It sounds like they’ve absorbed the entire output of the Slits and the Raincoats and added rap, pop, psychedelia and a sense of fun to the mix.
‘Prince In Blue’ starts proceedings with post-punk riffs and lyrical jibes at the men of the world, even those who treat them well. ‘Bling Bling’, the 21st century’s Wordy Rappinghood, is a tongue in cheek attack on the world’s WAGs. If there was any justice in the world it’d relegate your Adeles and Lady Gagas to the bargain bin at your local charity shop. Bife Dos, an instrumental begging for a spy related drama to use its services, adds a welcome dose of tropicadelia. ‘Cous Cous’ could be a long lost PIL track recorded in a jungle. The album comes to a perfectly poppy end with ‘Suffisant’, a track that sounds like it’s auditioning for a part in an Argentinean remake of Grease.
Quirky, funky, arsey, funny and so groovy it’s positively corrugatedKellies is leading the Argentinean assault on the ears of the musical cognoscenti of the world. Las Kellies are anything but typical girls.
