Confusingly Appealing
Hands up who can remember the cartoon, 'Thundercats'? Then get ready for a nostalgic trip down memory lane courtesy of a five-piece band making their way out of Bexhill on Sea who just happen to share their name with the evil character Mumm-Ra from the 80s cartoon. Well that's what you'd be in for if this bunch of 21 years olds were not at the helm but the fact is that the connection dwindles out as it would seem that Mumm-Ra are no hyperactive band of indie urchins wielding a catchy summer tune that will fade come winter.
No, there is much more to them than this, the trouble is it's hard to fathom what. You see Mumm–Ra fail to fill any musical genre, preferring instead to take snippets of one style and merge them with chunks of another until you left wondering what the heck you've just heard but are strangely desperate to hear some more. 'Song B' fits this category perfectly. Jumping from prog one minute to waves of psychedelica the next before making a quick stop to brandish some free for all shout–a–longs to insure crowd participation, 'Song B' is a musical magpie; nicking bits from every band going, taking it back to its nest and then recreating it as its own. It shouldn't work, for other bands it wouldn't but somehow Mumm-Ra pull it off.
From the weird and wonderful to the uncomplicated and beautiful, Mumm-Ra proceed to turn their EP 'Black Hurts Day and the Night Rolls On' firmly on its head with the inclusion of 'There She Is' and 'Light Up This Room'. Arguably providing musical conformity and normality, both tracks are tales of lovelorn despair with 'Light Up This Room' relying on the simple sweetness of an acoustic guitar and gently rousing vocals before Mumm-Ra once again churn things up with 'The Temple', a song that seems to travel further into the world of prog-rock, returning to the throw-everything-in-and-see-if-it-works philosophy of the opening track and confusing you once again.
They may take their name from a simple kids cartoon, but in the end there is nothing straightforward and easy about Mumm-Ra.