Over 30 years in, Red Snapper’s sound continues to shape-shift, evolve. On their latest long-player, Barb & Feather, only 2 of the tracks hark back to the original Snapper of old. The opener, Ban-Di-To, is a raucous riot of subverted surf guitar riffs and honking, jumping jazz jive. Swinging (punches) like Pigbag taking a shot at Dick Dale’s Miserlou. Or Link Wray’s cover of the `60s TV Batman Theme. Sirocco too manages to capture the raw energy of when rock & roll was new. Adding a big modern beat to a suitably North African-flavoured post-punk burlesque belly dance. The remaining tracks on side 1, however, include a fairly faithful reading of Bowie’s Sound & Vision, and a tribute to the Slovenian river, The Tolminka. The latter is a slow, steamy, atmospheric post-rock simmer of sax, percussion and abstract guitar. Its mood more than a little voodoo. 

The album’s entire second side consists of collaborations with veteran electronic musician David Harrow. Having amassed a whole heap of experience across a wide range of genres – trance, synth-pop, house, drum & bass and especially dub – Harrow has worked both solo and alongside famous folks such as Anne Clark, Little Annie, Adrian Sherwood, Andrew Weatherall and Jah Wobble. With Harrow’s assistance, Hold My Hand Up becomes a moment of marvellous, melodica-led, dizzying delay-drenched pop. On Lucky Strike, the treated, tough contrabass twanging now resembles a Roland TB-303. The closing timbale-tonking number, Tight Chest, hits a funky, electronically-edged low-rider groove, like Plaid remixing Nuyorcian Latin boogaloo. 

Red Snapper’s Barb + Feather can be ordered directly from Lo Recordings.