New cassette tape from London based South Africans Black Mamba Beat is a split featuring new project Wake Up Dead. Black Mamba Beat have so far released material on European labels Clan Destine and Jeet Kune and now have aptly found a new home across the pond at Kind Turkey Records to debut Wake Up Dead songs. The quartet's current line up features members of Black Time, Atari, Live Fast Die, Black Mamba Beat, Snakes and Music, The Splinters and The Jazz June, AKA: Koala, Lemmy Caution, Mr. Stix and Mouse.
Side A: Black Mamba Beat! Full of rubbery bass, bashing rhythms and one male torpid voice accompanied by barking yelps and shouts. Abrasiveness from some of the vocals is balanced out nicely from simple and heady guitar melodies, especially on track 'Don't Care Show Me'. 'Hibernating' and 'Note From the Moat' break up this side well by including some piano arrangements and take things to a slower darker place. Side A finishes on a high note and somewhat echos how it started with a Cramps-esque style guitar intro.
Side B: Wake Up Dead. Still in the Punk Rock vein but colder, darker, I can't help feel like opening track 'Zombie Love' wouldn't sound totally out of place on a Misfits album. The out of tune guitar parts in 'Hospital' are curiously pleasant making this track a high light. Like Side A the recording fittingly has that made in a basement, bedroom feel to it eschewing any glitz or 'studio magic'. The bands' blog Shabeen Scene teases that they have just gone into More or Less Mono Studios to record some more songs. I hope this tape is a taste of things to come.
This tape is limited to 100 copies - first 25 are hand-painted and includes an insert! Black Mamba Beat VS Wake Up Dead is Kind Turkey Records first release and their website says there are less than 15 copies of this left - exclusively available globally, as in everywhere, as in right now!
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