They’re called Rubik 1138; this album cover features three intertwined blue-bearded guys with eyes in their foreheads; their songtitles translate as Universal Yawn, Ghost Wheat and Comets Are Falling.
Call us quick to judge, but something told us this was no Coldplay, and we would have been quite surprised if Kafkatik didn’t turn out to be at least a little bit mental. Over the last few years these fiery Mexicans have flirted with myriad cities, cultures, styles and jams. And now they bring all that together in one intense, hard-hitting package. It’s unruly, it’s discordant in places, and yes, it is quite mental. And yet for the most part it does actually work out well for them. Rastaman Chicken is a surprisingly groovy, syncopated fest of wah-infused psychedelia, alternative prog and strands of reggae. The likes of L.A. Psycho Groove, complete with Santana-esque guitar lines, suggest their deliciously funky qualities are where their real promise lies. Either way, with a backing of old school prog sensibilities (stop-start timings, retro-fuzz guitars), Rubik 1138 are proving themselves capable of robust, convincingly colourful shades of rock – Rasta poultry ’n’ all.
