After something of a surprise debut a couple of year ago (a pleasant surprise I might add), A Band Of Squirrels had another surprise of us in November 2023 as they released a second EP, the curiously titled, The Mystif (once again on Magic Moustache Records).
Across five tracks the band, otherwise known as Christiaan ‘Squirrel’ Mariess and some choice collaborators (but mostly Squirrel), take us on quite a journey that is at once exactly what you might expect from the member of Brunt, Le Beaubo, Lord Vapour and others, but also something rather different.
Opening tune, Mort, feels like a brief intro to draw us in but, rather than setting the scene it builds quite an ominous feeling as the sounds of vintage horror movies combine with John Carpenter’s (marginally) less vintage soundtracks to draw us through a vortex into Squirrel’s musical world.
From here on things are far lighter in tone with Liberation Through Naked Sound (a brilliant title that really does sum up a lot of what we get here) being something of an odyssey that sees guitars, drums, bass, saxophone and more bring a far more jazzy feel to proceedings than I might have predicted, but all with a heavy dose of the psychedelic too.
Muffled voices weave their way just under the top level of the music giving things a truly mysterious edge, but one that is irresistible, before some more intentional vocals arrive later, but still very much feeling part of the whole rather than the usual ‘lead’ aspect.
Nopal takes things in an even more relaxed direction with sax and keys taking the lead and less guitars while some interesting percussion, on what sound like a huge array of different instruments rather than a standard drum kit, works away underneath.
The title track does then head in a, comparatively, more direct direction with a more insistent drum beat and more conventional vocals, but it retains a strongly progressive feel both in the music and in the fact that, at over seven minutes long, its never going to be a pop hit in any sense – but is all the better for it.
I got the feeling that if you turned this up and rearranged it for bass, guitar and drums this could be a Brunt number but in this context it remains very much A Band Of Squirrels’.
This segues seemingly effortlessly into Re-Entry which sees the psyche-y and trippy sounds make quite a return as Squirrel brings us home and certainly left me wishing the trip wasn’t over yet.
I know its a fairly trite thing to say about a record of this sort but it really does feel like Squirrel takes us on a cosmic journey like only he could, while also showing he must some kind of musical genius to not just write but arrange, play and record all of this almost entirely off his own back.
All I can really say is turn it on in the dark, lay back, close your eyes and let The Mystif flow.
Tommy Girard 
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