I was apparently one of only of a handful of lucky people to hear ‘Acid Funk’ back in early July, courtesy of the band <<NUKLI>> inadvertently pre-releasing their new album on Bandcamp, and my unseemly haste to hear the latest output from one of my favourite bands bore fruit before the band realised their mistake and took it back down again pending its 1 August release. It’s been on permanent play ever since.
‘Acid Funk’ seems to have finally bucked my own personal trend of missing out on << NUKLI >>. In the 90s they were on the roster of Delerium Records, that peerless psychedelic label which introduced me to the likes of Kava Kava, Porcupine Tree and the Dead Flowers, but released their first album ‘The Time Factory’ round about the time I was packing in Facelift as a fanzine. Then, when I started going to Kozfest in the mid 2010s, I somehow conspired to miss the band for at least three editions despite being otherwise sucked into that festival’s wall to wall trippy bombardment.
On the fourth occasion, nursing a migraine from hell after a long drive down to Devon, the band’s warm sounds and beautiful instrumental harmony coaxed me inevitably out of my tent to the safe haven of the festival’s Daevid Allen stage. I’ve been hooked ever since.
<<NUKLI>> are a trio spearheaded by Kev Hegan (guitar and vocals) and Mark Huxley (bass), both of whom are regulars with the Glissando Guitar Orchestra, but trace their roots back to the 1980s. Their brand of space rock is uplifting, positive and not a little folky, and perfect in a small festival environment. They are joined on drums by recent recruit Paul Maguire, who brings an energetic, high-end accompaniment to a tightly-grooved mix. Via annual Kozfest encounters in subsequent years (the band’s delicious late night <<NUKLITE>> alter ego, featuring pared down, semi-acoustic performances in Wally’s tent, uniquely captures the vibe of the festival), I’ve come to grow and love their outstanding ‘There Is Another Way’ release (2019), an album with nary a duff moment, blues-flecked breaks, gentle wig-outs and glorious ambience. The band have subtly weaved new material into their sets (some have appeared on live albums) so that ‘Acid Funk’ is not such much an outpouring of new material as a sonic document of what has already been honed live. And it’s mighty fine…
There’s one track which Kev Hegan, live, describes as their ‘prog rock’ number (it could be either the opener ‘Tomorrow People’ or the ‘The Kings Hat’). It’s a description that struck me as slightly self-deprecating but not entirely wide of the mark in terms of how pieces evolve: there is no pomposity here, no overblown performance, but instead the term progressive amply describes a mode of composition that sees the band move easily from theme to theme within each track, with some obvious highlights emerging: that might be the minor-key cascading riff on ‘Dancing In The Moment’, or the recurrent wah-wah solos on ‘World of Light’. One gets the impression that pieces might have germinated via lengthy jams between the three musicians – certainly the vibe between Hegan and Huxley is almost telepathic, so sensitive are the changes and developments within each piece.
Ultimately though the band are at their finest during an epic 4 piece suite in the latter part of the album. There is the glorious stasis of both ‘Afrika’ and ‘Indiah’, each of which are underpinned by memorable bass lines. Their proponent, Mark Huxley reminds me a little on stage of Hugh Hopper: an imposing, implacable figure, masked behind glasses and facial hair, with a certain knowing detachment, generating a fat, enveloping sound which permeates into the soul; the economy of effort at odds with its impact.
Hegan, meanwhile cuts a more animated counterpoint, engagingly flitting between snatches of vocals to provide a variety of guitar roles: subtle licks, atmospherics and free soloing which build up a rich sound. It is here that the alchemy of the band becomes clear: the overall sonic palette is way beyond what should be reasonably produced by a three piece. ‘Afrika’ and ‘Indiah’, each with their respective ethnic undertones, are spliced either side of ‘Acid Funk’, which does what it says on the tin, a spaced out groove a la Mike Howlett with Gong or House of Thandoy. ‘Indiah’, a new tune to me, may well be the album’s highlight, with just a hint of the Ozrics’ recently restituted tune ‘Ayurvedic’, before wending its way down, all sitar atmospherics, into the concluding piece ‘Good Times’. Enjoy <<NUKLI>> in all their guises if you manage to get to Kozfest’s new location in mid Wales, or check them out at their free album launch. For if <<NUKLI>> are indeed prog rock, they might just be its best kept secret.
https://nukli.bandcamp.com/ – don’t forget that this Friday 1 August 2025 is Bandcamp Friday where all fees go directly to the artist
‘Acid Funk’ launch party on 16 August – details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/biddle-bros/sad-house-daddy-presents-nukli-acid-funk-album-launch-tony-hands-free-entry/1796714970922215/
Kozfest tickets (8-10 August) are at https://www.electricsalad.co.uk/kozfest.html
The Canterbury scene(zine) continued.... 