Album Review

Yeti – The Legend Of Yeti Gonzales

• 25th Jun 2008

With Dirty Pretty Things working on their second album and Babyshambles having already released their sophomore effort, we finally see the debut album from John Hassall’s band Yeti. However, Yeti’s sound quite sensibly renders comparisons with the work of messrs. Barat, Powell and Doherty completely irrelevant. This could well be ‘the new sound’ described by Rudi van DiSarzio in the Mighty Boosh.

Yeti’s music fuses psychedelia, sixties-style pop and even alt-folk, with the tone being set by the voiceover on the album’s introduction. Hassall’s pop sensibility shines through on the early tracks, particularly In Like With You and the unique Shane MacGowan.

Towards the end of the album, particular influences become more prominent. The instrumental Reprise sets the reader up nicely for the album’s high-point Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder, presenting the band as a kind of lo-fi version of The Clash. It is followed by another gem in the Doors-influenced Obviously, before the subdued Jermyn Girls.

This is a very promising debut from Yeti, who have effortlessly shaken off the post-Libertines tag to remain a hugely talented band in their own right.