A new release from a new pairing called ¡La Ruta! came out last month, a four track 12" single. ¡La Ruta! are Sean Johnston, (Hardway Bros and Andrew Weatherall's partner in the travelling cosmic disco A Love from Outer Space) and Martyn Walsh, former bass player in Inspiral Carpets. Back in the day Sean one of Sean's previous lives was a booking agent for the Oldham band and did their tour merchandising and t- shirts. A recent reconnection between Sean and Martyn led to ¡La Ruta!
Kibbo Kift is eight minutes of upbeat, science fiction chug, with a bouncing, driving bassline, named after a 1930s English woodcraft movement aimed at bringing about world peace through handiwork, hiking, camping and other character building activities for young people. The words Kibbo Kift come from an old dialect, apparently translating as 'proof of great strength'. It was against mass movements based on race or nationality hoping to bring about a better world via mental discipline.
EP closer, Those Who Know, Know, rides along on waves of synths, arpeggios and a choral section and again a standout bass part, a tune constantly looking upwards, feeling like it's striving for something better- and couldn't we all with a bit of that.