A Bananagun is a surreal concept, like something visualised by Salvador Dali. It conjures brightly vivid images of sticky potassium being fired in a scattershot fashion while stumbling over discarded banana skins. The name suits the Melbourne/Naarm group’s second album which creates a ramshackle blend of psych-garage, freakbeat experimentation and spiritual jazz. Compared with the more tightly planned combination of sunshine pop and Afrobeat that characterised their debut album, 2020’s ‘The True Story of Bananagun’, it sounds like a band let off the leash. It reflects the record’s origins, born at the end of a period where the band had been unable to meet up due to Australia’s strict lockdown rules where people were not allowed to travel beyond a 5km radius. ‘Why is the Colour of the Sky?’ was recorded at the Button Pusher studio in Preston, Melbourne in batches of twos with an ethos of learn the song on Monday, record on Wednesday, all done with minimal takes on analogue mixing equipment. Thus, the spirit of the band playing together is pre-eminent.
The album’s sense of childlike questioning and wonder is apparent in the record’s title, together with those of its ten tracks, such as ‘Brave Child of a New World’, ‘Feeding the Moon’, ‘Free Energy’ and ‘Wonder’. That spirit is reflected on opening track, ‘Brave Child…’ which starts with the sort of muffled drums that are the antithesis of crisp modern production. Quickly adding West African funk guitars and band leader Nick van Bakel’s flute, it creates a rapidly fluctuating mood before adding another wrong-footing element, the vocals. These sound like a pre-hip early 1960s folk ensemble, although the sentiments are more modern hippy (“Wild and free, creation smiled on you… when you look up at the stars / you’ll see how small your problems are.”)
Although Bananagun like to develop a decent groove, they keep their songs concise, many under three minutes in duration and only ‘Children of the Man’ weighing in at marginally over five minutes. It is a loose garage psychedelia number doused with occasional ripples of harmony. ‘Those Who Came Before’ maintains their optimistic spirit, advising “not to get too far ahead and say it’s impossible” while pursuing a mixture of meandering psychedelic guitars and bah-bah vocal harmonies. The mood shifts abruptly with ‘Feeding the Moon’, the first of two instrumentals, replete with jazz chords and time signature shifts so absurd that they cannot help but bring a manic grin to my face.
‘Gift of the Open Hand’ is a brief burst of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd-like whimsy with bonus flute moments. Discussing the track, van Bakel states “We’ve been funnelled into a perverted existence where we owe our thanks to a system that bleeds us and I don’t understand how people stand it! I think people would be happier and more productive without the intervention of governments.” It is representative of a naïve thinking running dangerously close to a strand of libertarianism that I would take issue with. While the extremely wealthy have more influence over government policies throughout the world than ordinary citizens, the biggest of many examples of government being essential is in the provision of health services. As someone who has enjoyed life-extending medical support this year, I would not want to have been left to my own devices to survive without an NHS by having to pay individual medics until my money ran out. If anything, more government intervention when elected by informed voters would be preferable. However, as van Bakel’s vocal diction is indistinct, I would have been unaware of these sentiments without this press statement, an occasion where a song is better without explanation.
Their first piano song, ‘With the Night’ blends the keyboard melody with some sweet soul vocals before instrumental chaos takes over. The song reflects on van Bakel’s response to the pandemic and social media hysteria (“tired of the bullshit I’ve been fed”), finding solace in spirituality outside of organised religion. A bright and breezy mood returns with the harpsichord and flute led instrumental, ‘Hippopotamusic’. There is an inspiring rhythmic fluency to ‘Free Energy’ alongside psychedelic guitars and murmured vocals. The album closes with Parts I and II of ‘Wonder’, the former being manic oddball pop, the latter easing out on a mellower groove.
‘Why is the Colour of the Sky?’ is a wayward record, far from tightly focused despite its short duration, yet it has a distinct charm in its unlikely diversions and stylistic quirks. Get yourself a Bananagun.
Bananagun: Why is the Colour of the Sky? – Out 8 November 2024 (Full Time Hobby)
– With the Night (Official Video)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
