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Mangelwurzel:
Root – A cultivated root vegetable developed in the 18th century as fodder crop for feeding livestock.
Band – Developed in 2012 from outer space (Melbourne), designed to defy a genre tag, warp your mind and infiltrate your life through frenzied sound.
Any band that decides to name themselves after a vegetable known for it’s large white, yellow or orange swollen roots deserves multiple listens if only for the connotations in sound. Like the Mangelwurzel who is unsure of it’s root colour, the band seeks to defy genre and no influence is off limit. As a result we the happy vegetable eaters get to consume an exciting, protein rich blend of sound with a completely frenetic flavour.
Jazz collides with punk in the insane funland of Mangelwurzel. If you can pronounce their name they’ll let you in.
Okay enough with the food and music innuendos; this band is a tight, rampaging juggernaut that has somehow managed to filter chaos into a heady blend with a strong vision. Comprising of Cosima Jaala (Vocals, Guitar), Loretta Wilde (Bass, Guitar, Vocals), Johnny Baird (Bass, Guitar), Anna Joy Gordon (Saxophone*), Charlie Woods (Trumpet) and Chris Windley (Drums), the sextet formed in 2012 and since then they have been leaving a slew of altered people in their wake.
They have featured as triple J’s Unearthed Artist, joined the King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard merry band of misfits for their curated Gizzfest, played countless shows and festivals around straya, participated in numerous charities for their own art (Gary LP Fundraiser) and tackling poverty in the developing world (Shebeen’s ‘Who Cares’ charity series). Not only that, they have recorded with Liam Barton at The Bank studios and had Stu Mackenzie’s delicious mastering mits on their brilliant single My House. That’s a busy three years in anyone’s books.
The greatest thing in all of this chaotic funland is the music, it always comes back to the music and Mangelwurzel has it in abundant quality. My House is a schizophrenic combination of jazz meets punk if you happened to be watching a burlesque at The Vanguard, it’s definitely for the more adventurous spirit but when has anything you’ve ever done right happened out of being safe? Amongst all the influences and sections they have managed to weave a delectable melody for our ears and believe us when we say, this will bounce around your head for days, possibly to the point of having it play every time you enter your own house/dimension.
Everybody’s friend and Hawaii make sure to follow suit with upbeat afro and jazzy rhythms and chord choices that will ensure you remain surprised through the whole ordeal. By the end of your Mangelwurzel experiment you should have a slight insight of what the 50’s scene might have been like had everyone been a tad more hallucinogenic. You will also see a band with some serious chops and confidence to utilise them in what can only be described as exciting musical exploration.
If you’re Brisbane bound for BIGSOUND make sure you take the time to visit their set, disappointment is sure to be a non-existent emotion.
*ED. Sorry Iain, it’s saxamaphone and must be pronounced like so.
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