Mama Rosin

Mama Rosin is a Swiss trio who have over the years been playing Louisiana Cajun. Deciding they’d outgrown their roots they were taken under the wing of Jon Spencer, whose track record in the musical leftfield is well established. Decamping to New York, and over eight intense days of recording they finally produced Bye Bye Bayou.

The album opens with the discordant Marilou which is not the most immediate song to grab the punters with. Sorry Ti Monde which follows is much friendlier on the ear with its early rock ‘n’ roll vibe. The more laidback and Cajun leaning Parait Qu’y A Pas Les Temps is actually pretty danceable. Elsewhere, the Black Samedi’s swampy, psychy, darker grooves play nicely with the glacial and sparse Mama Don’t.

Seco e Molhado could be the theme to a western, and with I Don’t Feel at Home and closer Story of Love and Hate are the albums more reflective tracks.

The sound that Spencer has created is raw and, at times, it sounds cluttered. It can also be intensely irritating take Bye Bye Birdy Black and the mercifully short Wivenhoe.

This is not an easy album to like; it’s by turns messy, brutal, experimental, primitive and completely devoid of subtlety. Ideas: they have them aplenty but sound totally uncoordinated and a shambles. That’s after the first two or so listens. With some patience the album starts to fall into place, the punk, the rock ‘n’ roll and the Cajun influences seguing together into a record that is always interesting, if not that loveable.