Blind Yeo are “fluid collective of multidisciplinary artists” centred around founder and avid cloak wearer Will Greenham. If you saw my review of Blind Yeo at the Jam Jar in Bristol from late last year you will know that I said about Greenham, “it’s not often you see a man in a hooded cloak with a third eye painted on his head (designed, he said, to hypnotise people into buying merch) rocking a Spanish guitar and moving across the stage like an interdimensional Druid channelling the late Wilko Johnson’s frenetic side to side movement.”
The band’s new album, The Lemoine Point, slow burns into life on opening track ‘Today / Tomorrow’ as we hitch a ride on Blind Yeo’s trans-dimensional musical journey with guitar, bass and drum powered propulsion and simple but effective vocals that offer dreamy call and response over the driving beat. This is a far more cost-effective way to explore the galaxy than a trillionaires’ vanity rocket.
This is a release that refines Blind Yeo’s cracking ability to martial swirling psychedelia, inter-dimensional funk, and motorik beats, and now also brings in African influences in the same vein as Tinariwen and Tamikrest on tracks such as ‘Colour Pillow / Kologo’, ‘Frik and Frak’ and ‘Magnolia’ (the kologo is “a lute-like instrument, ancestor of the banjo from Ghana”). ‘Colour Pillow / Kologo’ has a hypnotic central vocal line which shows off the high-low beauty of Greenham’s voice when it is doubled with Anoushka Helm’s. The guitar clucks and flutters out riffs in that classic dry-fuzzed way and it’s one of the standout tracks on the album.
The band can also glide along nursing a meditative groove as on ‘Memory to The Soil’ and ‘Right Side of The Round’ whose mantra-like vocals whirl around the resting heartbeat of the track as synth sounds squelch and arpeggiate in the background.
Blind Yeo have found a backdoor into your brain so they can jump start your motor cortex and push all the buttons to get you to a frenzied, hypnotic state. This works especially well if you see them live (see upcoming tour dates below), and it’s not hard to imagine the title track or ‘Frik and Frak’ getting a venue jumping as both have a tribal feel, the kind of shamanic bridge between worlds that gets you moving with or without ayahuasca.
Will Greenham, as the band’s founder, has worked hard to create a strong musical scene where he lives in the coastal town of Falmouth in Cornwall through his involvement with The Cornish Bank venue and its influence on the local DIY scene. Their core sound can be expanded and enhanced with a rotating set of contributors for recording and live, and on The Lemoine Point the nine musicians involved had the luxury of being able to write and experiment in the studio. Blind Yeo are a band that could deploy a didgeridoo, Theremin, spoons, a field recording of badgers, and it wouldn’t make your third eye blink. They are your psychedelic guides to inner and outer space so grab your cloak and join them, you won’t be disappointed.
Blind Yeo: Bandcamp | Instagram| Facebook
Bongo Joe Records: Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook
Live dates:
28 August – Krankenhaus · Ravenglass
12 September – Strange Brew · Bristol
16 September – George Tavern · London
17 September – The Crescent · York
18 September – Where Else? · Margate
19 September – Invention Festival · Derby
Review by Paul F Cook
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook | Bluesky | Instagram | Threads | Mailing List