For their second album, ‘Funky Was The State Of Affairs‘ (out tomorrow, August 7th), Brooklyn-based band Fergus & Geronimo brought in two new members and left behind the sixties background of their debut, to find in the 80s the foundations of a new sonic flavour. Truthfully though, the various New Wave, dance rock and pop-punk influences are hardly the most interesting thing about this record. Amidst fast beats and freaky skits, they’re playing their very own ‘tale of idiots’, halfway between social satire and pure nonsense. Don’t be misled by that strange Northern-Cockney hybrid on the opening ‘No Parties’, the English aren’t a prime target here. Consumerism, paranoia, passivity and other defects of our kind, extraterrestrial fantasies and complex relationships: those are the main themes approached in this weird, gripping album which, agreed, is varied in sounds, but should certainly get as much credit for its coherence. The release show will be on Friday (8.10) at 285 Kent. – Tracy Mamoun