Credit: David Whittemore

The Jazz Butcher, having shown the occasional flash of brilliance, has finally come up with the goods. Fishcotheque is that rare beast, an LP of cool, laid-back pop. With tracks imitating every current pop style the Jazz Butcher, always a fan of subtle humour, raps his way through a song about chickens and has a go at calypso.

Atmospherics are the name of the game here, with more than a hint of the Go-Betweens. The tunes have an addictive, subtle grip which tightens on each play, and vocals that are delightfully nonchalant. This is the ideal album to play when you're faced with a wet spring Sunday and you feel like putting your feet up for an afternoon.

3.5/5 stars

Fishcotheque

Having ended up on Creation Records, which I took as a bit of a validation, I was keen to get as far away from all those "w" words that had followed my group around. The sessions were chaotic and funny. What disappoints me is that it came out sounding so SMOOTH and tidy. But I like Fishcotheque; I wish there more records as good as it.

creation_records, Relativity Records