Album Review: Saskwatch - Leave It All Behind

The opening track of Saskwatch's debut LP, Leave It All Behind, has to be one of the coolest to be heard in a long time. The Delinquent instantly brings to mind a James Bond-esque montage, complete with armed tuxedoed men flying through the air over cars and bedding women like there's no tomorrow. The following tracks swap the action-packed guitars for a soul-drenched feel and the powerful voice of Nkechi Anele, providing a beat for the Bond girls to swill their martinis and avoid misogynists to.

Anele's vocals are a welcome change to the whispery female tones that have been the trend of late, the only potential fault being that her voice may be too powerful, as there isn't a whole lot of light and shade on the album. The instrumental component rescues this almost non-existent flaw, with keyboards and brass making Saskwatch as supreme as The Supremes themselves. There's even an instrumental cover of the Robbie and Kylie's '90s gem Kids, and it's testament to their talents that the track sounds 100% more kickass than the original. These guys are retro in the best way possible, and not in the terrible cultural-cringe way that's given nostalgia a bad name. Saskwatch have even received praise from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, and are quite the hypnotic brass ensemble themselves.

The phrases 'the next big thing' or 'the ones to watch' are over-used to the point of nausea, but in this case this Melbourne nine-piece couldn't be more deserving of such accolades. There's surely some potential wordplay about Saskwatch and 'sass' and the ones to 'watch' but you get the idea without that train-wreck coming to life.