A band that’s caught my ear over the past couple of months is York outfit Tommyrot. and their recent singles Drugs and The Happy Ending Song. There’s a few young bands stretching the boundaries of indie, funk and avant garde at the moment and there’s so much to like in Tommyrot. This is distinctly listenable funky punky indie smindie with a weird twist. I like. I like a lot.

This is a tricky review to write as Tommyrot span a number of genres and I can pick different vibes on different plays. Also, with only two fairly diverse tracks on offer, the golden thread melding the songs together is perhaps yet still to emerge. I like bands that intrigue; they inspire.

On checking out Tommyrot’s spotify playlist it wasn’t much help to deduce what is behind the vibes but I think I could catch some of the band’s influences within their own personal choices. That said, it’s a huge and massively impressively curated playlist.

The ones I really spotted came with the likes of a hint of Talking Heads and Black Midi together with the catchy indie sensibilities of a few usual suspects. However, it was more so with the Ohio Players, James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. The latter in particular had a really loose heavy psychedelic funk sound, and I think that’s really in the backbone of Tommyrot too.

While the first Tommyrot single Drugs was perhaps the more clearly accessible with its relaxed rolling beat, there’s a wonderful vibe on The Happy Ending Song. The song content doesn’t seem quite as rude as my corrupted mind might want it to, it seems more a song of life’s travails in general rather than a tale of a furtive fumble.

I don’t fully know quite why but I get something of early ska The Specials on this track (or perhaps even Funboy 3 only with a bit less fun and more Gong). There’s a relaxed slightly Jah Wobble era Public Image dub vibe and a totally expressive beat and rhythm to The Happy Ending tune. Like Drugs, there is a slightly relaxed, wobbly, fuzzy stoned vibe to the track.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing where Tommyrot go next (even if there’s going to be a high chance I make another bollox of describing it).

Chris R

• Images taken from the band’s social media pages.