If, when faced with the prospect of listening to world music, you can’t help but going "meh" (it’s a shared prejudice!) you owe it to yourself to check out Brooklyn’s Sandcatchers, both live (they are currently holding a Monday residency at Berlin) and on record. In sophomore LP "What We Found Along the Way" this quartet manage to effortlessly assemble tracks that blend middle eastern influences with Americana, post rock and noise rock as well. Based on an impossible time signature (what’s that, a 9/4 tempo?), streamiing single Flees Fast Singing is groovy, tense and unpredictable. A lot of their repertoire is softer, like opening track Sky Stirs (which betrays folky pasts) or favorite Drop Stars Like Memories, but the band seems to catch fire whenever the BPM revs up, like in Washed and Wild, where a twangy distorted lap steel and an oud compete for attention on top of a breakneck fast paced rhythm section. The group is composed of veteran musicians, and you can hear it in the top notch execution, which – as so rarely happens – is matched by a sound that is as original as it’s entertaining. Don’t miss the next performance at Berlin on Monday 12.11. – PDG
