Stupid names a plenty, this instrumental collection will almost definitely wriggle your toes.

Now this is a strange kettle of fish. Why do we say kettle of fish anyway? It’s not as if anyone would put fish in a kettle (I suppose that’s the point), although my mate Steve did put some baby hamster’s in the freezer once, by mistake of course (and yes they died). Anyway back to the fish… For starters, what sort of a name is Soiled Mattress and The Springs? Not that that is important, but I just thought I’d throw it out there.

As for the music it sounds a wee bit like the theme tune for The Magic Roundabout played by The Blues Brothers backing band (Murph and the Magic Tones if you’d forgotten), inserted into jazz blender and plastered in horns. You may ask - What’s a jazz blender? Well it would take far too long to explain, so you’ll just have to give Honk Honk Bonk a listen to find out.

Switching between stitches at the rattle of a maraca, that include melodic piano jams, horn led funk, lift music and outlandish improv, SMATS, as I will call them for short, will certainly get your feet in a twist. Cleverly layering up saxophone, keys and drums Honk Honk Bonk collects up 2006’s Springtime EP and adds eight new tracks into that infamous jazz blender.

SMATS tour the UK in February and I think this would be a really great opportunity to understand the lounge rhythms and experimental jams of these 3 NYC musicians. Hailing from the same stable as Barr, a New York counterpart and fellow experimental pop brethren, I’d recommend checking them out.

www.upsettherhythm.co.uk

David Samuel