Montreal’s Bad Uncle are a rough and steamy band of miscreant gypsy-punx held together by duct tape, whisky and mad chops. While there’s a band like this in everybody’s city (right?), Bad Uncle are head and shoulders above the crowd for myriad reasons. Authenticity and chops being not the least, each tune on their latest DIY release an attestation to a group of ne’er-do-wells who can PLAY and be playful. Bearing a filial relation to larger local übergroub The Unsettlers , accordionist/singer Santosh Lalonde is the main protagonist (or villain) in the Bad Uncle gang. Waits -ian graveyard polka, dashes of harmonic minor gypsy klez-punk, zydeco flava waltzes, soundscapes, instrumental reveries and the obligatory seafaring song or two. Keeping a marvelous ball of mischief aloft, Lalonde’s howling, damaged vocals growl and soar a basso-profundo stream of stories and yarns that commands and guides the creaking ship safely around potential cliches.
Remarkable production for a handmade affair, the players on this release are a phenomenal gathering, each one knowing when to step back and forward, each fiddle, guitar, sax and accordion note in it’s place while Santosh’s Popeye snarl cutting through it all like cannonballs. I think with a little more slop and flaw this release would be a perfect representation. It’s a great recording but I can taste the studio a bit too much in the recordings… if the instruments were a bit less homogeneously recorded it might underscore the wide variety of genre mixed into the album. This detail, however, doesn’t detract from the success of Presents the Incredible Mediocrity as a showcase for the explosive and diverse skills of this band whos darkly rn’r gypsy-punk comes across best live onstage.
http://www.myspace.com/saybaduncle
