Wovoka Gentle

★★★ Start Clanging Cymbals NUDE. CD/DL/LP

Experimental trio makes complex psych-pop debut.

A ‘come hither’ act thanks to song titles such as 1,000 Opera Singers Working In Starbucks, London trio Wovoka Gentle hold no truck with conventional song structures. Theirs is a riotous, often joyous sound, with elements of collage, sampled spokenword, avant-garde brass, electronica and ‘60s psychedelic folk, yet the best melodies and slickest production tropes recall Tears For Fears at their most outré and grandiose (witness Small Victory and Gennesaret), or maybe poetic ‘80s folkies Shelleyan Orphan with a pronounced music-tech overhaul. Although the manifestly short attention spans of William Stokes and twin sisters Imogen and Ellie Mason offer few easy handholds (even the pretty trad folk of Xerxes ’19 soon segues to glitchy electronica and a treated sample of a Kampala children’s choir), you have to admire Start Clanging Cymbals’ ambition and selfassured daring.