Go Calypsonian
Lord Mouse and the Kalypso Katz

We say: Retro calypso out of Berlin — much better than you might think!

Take a bunch of seemingly diverse components—Caribbean music from the first half of the 20th century, musicians from all over Europe, a white American-born singer, a Berlin record label, and an English producer. What do you get? A great summer record, as fresh as an onshore breeze and as heady as a chilled daiquiri.

Lord Mouse and the Kalypso Katz— a band that features six girl singers, a four-piece brass section, two percussionists, and even a ukulele — have been around for a few years now, entertaining audiences in their native Berlin and beyond. Calypso, which these days is just a distant musical memory for those of more mature years, may be due a revival but the ultimate selling point of this 17-piece collective is that all band members are white and European rather than black and Caribbean. This does not seem to matter: given the quality of the music, such a fact seems purely academic.

Go Calypsonian is the band's second album and on this occasion English musician Colin Bass (aka Sabah Mustapha Habas of Three Mustaphas Three fame) has been brought in to produce. Although they throw a few cover versions into the mix like "Limbo Song", "Goombay Drum" and "Edward VIII," a somewhat simplistic take on King Edward's abdication back in 1936, most of the songs performed here are original compositions. Lyrically speaking, there's nothing too cerebral: "Calypso Hipshake" and "Snake Charmer" describe dance crazes and femme fatales, while "Pussycat" with its outlandish chorus is unashamedly tongue in cheek and fun-loving. Go Calypsonian also takes inspiration from further afield: "Chunga, Chunga," sung in Russian, originated as a Soviet-era cartoon show theme. And for those who ask the obvious question — what is a young white man doing singing old school calypso? — "White Boy Calypso" addresses that very same question with passion.

Although the music here goes under the umbrella of calypso, it's a broad church really, with elements of ska, Latin-jazz and Cuban son and mambo also to the fore. It's none the worse for that: if Lord Mouse stuck to replicating Trinidadian hits from the 1940s then he might find himself marginalized as this was pretty much a niche market the first time round. Rather than simply reproducing a genre, Go Calypsonian aims for the spirit of that music and era—sunny, sexy, cheeky carnival music with the emphasis on fun.