Seven albums in, Ungus Ungus Ungus still sound like a band determined to make genre behave badly. On ‘The Fun House’, the Australian outfit jump between freak folk, dub, electro swing, hip-hop, drum and bass and ambient music with the kind of confidence that only really comes from knowing exactly how far you can push things before they fall apart.
That sense of movement is built into the album from the start. ‘Funlerable’ opens with circus organs, restless rhythm and a slightly sinister edge, while ‘Poltergeist’ turns lost love into something theatrical before accelerating into full-blown frenzy. By the time ‘Dr Quiet’ arrives, the pace has dropped into a spacious dub groove, leaving room for horns and atmosphere to do the work.
The shifts keep coming. ‘Wishes Three’ moves into conceptual funk, ‘Secret Track’ brings in a verse from Flash Poetry, and ‘Sauna Swing’ throws the doors open again with bouncing electro swing. Later, ‘Move’ pulls the record towards drum and bass with guest vocals from FemCee, before ‘Beginnings’ closes things out in a far more meditative space.
Bandleader Max Schollar-Root sums up the approach neatly:
“As a band that plays fast and loose with genre, we have held nothing back stylistically, taking the listener on a journey from our signature circus party freak folk through psychedelic dub, funky hip-hop, electro swing, drum and bass, and ambient spaciousness.”
On paper, that much genre-hopping should make ‘The Fun House’ feel scattered. Instead, the band’s live-minded energy gives the record its throughline. Even when the sound changes drastically, there is still a sense that every track belongs to the same strange night out.
That is probably the best way to understand the album. ‘The Fun House’ is less interested in settling into a style than keeping things moving, twisting and occasionally disorienting. Somehow, Ungus Ungus Ungus make that restlessness part of the appeal.
‘The Fun House’ is out now!
