What an awesome song!

Based in New Plymouth – yep, more Taranaki lads and ladies for me to get into! Is anyone from there NOT in a quality band? – this band Banana Mundo is very cosmopolitan indeed. Boasting a membership from Aotearoa, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay, France, Switzerland and England, a whole gamut of influences are enjoined here. And it is a paaaaaartay!

Driving Around is salsa, cumbia, and is wonderfully Latino/Caribbean. It’s up-tempo, got a fabulous brass section that I would love to see live, and a vocalist with a timbre surprisingly akin to an up-beat Bob Marley. Give this track a listen and think of Bob singing this one, and you’ll hear it. It’s an absolute ear-worm of a melody with a chorus that I’m still singing under my breath as a type.

With this family of genres, a melody which is a rattlesnake emotive composition works to lift the energy. Aside from the fabulous vocals, a real star is the aforementioned brass ensemble. Up-tempo Latino and brass go hand in hand of course, but I am a huge fan of a great brass section that’s firing on all cylinders. This band achieves this in bucketloads. I once tried to have a go at a band-mate’s Sax. Am I the only person in the world that managed to make such a classy instrument sound like I was trying to play Digeridoo after running a half marathon? Major respect to anyone who plays brass!

Back in the 80s, where I come from, there was a band called Modern Romance. They had a few hits in the earlier half of the decade with a similar style, although production advances would make those guys stuff quite dated now, obviously. This gives me a similar vibe – music to be happy to, to dance to, to hang out and have fun to. Banana Mundo is yet another jaw-droppingly talented band from the ‘Naki. This song, written about the fun of the adventure of hitting the road to see where the day takes you, is excellently composed and orchestrated. It’s got a warm, vibrant production. I’ve not mentioned the rhythm section yet, which is a tight unit that compels the performance out of the rest of the band.

Seriously, I’m in Montevideo at 3 am in my mind’s eye right now. Eye-wateringly sweet drinks, suspiciously thick and scarily coloured, sit menacingly in tiny glasses in a row as this number explodes into life and a crowd of nocturnal salsa lovers twist and fly to the sound, the waters of the river Plate shimmering under the waning moon behind them. This song is way too good for radio to miss. I hope it gets everywhere, and not just in Kiwiland. The band is from all over: I hope it’s getting justified airings everywhere.

Give Banana Mundo a listen on the Spotty Fly. This is one helluva great band that knows how to make music to make you move! SALSA!