I am sure that the it would take the corporate marketing machine no more than 15 seconds to recommend that Uncle Wally and Uncle Steve change their name to something more saleable like Pigeon Alien Deathstar or Duo Lipo (ha!). I am also sure that Uncle Wally and Uncle Steve have been around long enough – “Saperlipopette!” is their third album to drink tea with – to resist the urge to sell out in search of etymologically derived fame.
My curiosity was, of course, piqued. If your album has already been out for over a year, why submit it for review at all? I’ve no idea either but, then again. I don’t drink that much in the way of mind altering tea. Anyway, enough of this rambling preamble for I would imagine that you want to know more about this duo’s music. Thought so.
Phrases like low key and easy going come to mind when you listen to this album. There is a feel of, and for, the past yet “Saperlipopette!” would never be seen as an attempt to jump on to the currently fashionable retro bandwagon. The songs contained therein merge nicely into one with discord and jagged musical punctuation nowhere to be seen while the Uncles top it all off with the kind of laidback vocals that always nuzzle rather than shout. Musical influences abound but genre hopping and course changes are a young man’s game and Uncle Wally and Uncle Steve have instead wisely set their sail straight for the warmth of the sunset.
So, there you have it. “Saperlipopette!” is something of an anachronism in these maximum volume days but maybe Uncle Wally and Uncle Steve could make mellow into the new black? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
Available from Bandcamp and Spotify and other such digital places.