Ouzo Bazooka
Transporter
Already spreading their reputation far beyond their native Tel Aviv, these exponents of ‘Middle Eastern psych rock’ will surely continue to make friends with Transporter, a more infectious record than its predecessor, 2016’s more laid-back Simoom. Opening track It’s A Sin, with its insistent two-chord riff and ‘Ah-oooo’ vocal hook, is sure to lodge itself, ear worm-like, in your head after a couple of listens.
The lacing of dizzy organ and synth sounds plus a cameo or two from evocative Middle Eastern instrumentation help firm up a musical identity that’s increasingly distinctive, and it’s offset by lyrics as intriguing as ‘Dracula is drinking Coke, global warming is a joke’. And while on Killing Me and Trip Train chief songwriter Uri Brauner Kinrot shows his talent for garage pop, on Space Camel there’s a lithe R&B groove underpinning it all.