Kings of kitsch? Clown princes of what they called “Berlin-Afro-Alpin-Dubstep-Killersound” back in 2006, at any rate. Helmut Erler and Michael Wolf are funny men who are serious about a good time, and ever since putting their two smart pates together to form the duo, they have been producing entertaining singles and albums driven by African and West Indian rhythms. Although they have featured guest artists before, they’ve never beefed up their line-up quite like this, with four horn players and the fine German guitarist Olaf Rupp.
Brass is kind of comic by nature – note the long history of novelty acts manned by top-flight horn players stretching from Spike Jones and His City Slickers to the Canadian Brass – but it also belts right down into the dance muscles – think gypsy, ska, and klezmer bands. We So Horny is classically dub from beginning to end, bass-driven and with sounds dropping in and out like casual friends at an open house, but the expanded Hey-o-Hansen bring extra sass to the party, especially the circular, waiting-for-something to happen clarinet rave that eventually explodes on “Family” and the wobbly electronic bass grounding the miles and miles of space echoing through “Gan Jah”.
It’s a digidub Oktoberfest for rude boys and natty dreads.
Stephen Fruitman
