Back in 2004 I bought Sophia's People Are Like Seasons album, played it a few times and then largely forgot about the band (or, rather, the collective), at least to the extent of keeping an eye open for new material. Their performance at last year's Incubate Festival was therefore my first contact with them in all that time. That was a good show so how do they shape up on record in the present day?

As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours) starts off with the Nymanesque piano piece 'Unknown Harbours'. Relatively moody but not something that pushes any emotional buttons.

The expected anthemic sound is forthcoming on 'Resisting', at least early on and then again from around the three minute point. If you're unfamiliar with the Sophia sound then British Sea Power are, at times, a reasonable comparison.

Quieter, slower songs are though the order of the day for the most part in the album's first half, despite the promise track two makes. Not until the melancholic sunshine provided by 'California' does the pace of proceedings pick up once again. It's a clever song, giving you as it does the sound of vitamin D-induced cheer with lyrics focussing on facts that are less happy. That it feels a minute or so too short just adds to its impact.

'St. Tropez / The Hustle' brings some weighty bass & drums to the fore as it plods along at a decent, head nodding lick. That's not how things progress for the remaining three tracks of the album but, with the mildly gothic edged rock that still has me listening to band leader Robin Proper-Sheppard's Nineties trio The God Machine, 'You Say It's Alright' provides one last yearning and yet comforting four minutes of bliss before things return to being largely acoustic for the closing numbers.

Live in Holland last year Proper-Sheppard & the band were "solidly rocky" with "potent emotion" (according to yours truly) and with five previous albums the option was obviously there to play a set of roof-lifting material, rather than the more intimate stuff that makes up the bulk of As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours), particularly as such material was better suited to the concert hall being performed in. There is though something here for everyone, especially a gateway backwards to those earlier releases.

As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours) is available from amazon & iTunes.

Things are pretty laidback on Kid Congo's fifth outing with his Pink Monkey Birds. Not that you'd have been expecting a massive slap in the face to be delivered but it takes until the fourth song ('Magic Machine') before any evidence of urgency appears and even then it's intermingled with some pretty languid guitar passages.

Which is all fine in and of itself but doesn't make for a record that grabs you by the neck to immerse you face first in the world created by its dozen tracks (or ten if you buy the vinyl version). 

Instrumental 'Karate Monkey', which appears at the halfway point (& brings to mind 'Lust For Life') once more raises the pace but also has an aimless element & ultimately dwindles away - a fault that unfortunately applies to quite an amount of the content of La Araña Es La Vida. 'We Love You' thankfully pounds along to its end as it announces it will at its start.

The mixed bag nature of the release continues though with the largely forgettable 'Chicano Studies' (which might have been improved by being another instrumental rather than having tannoy-like vocals and crowd noise bubbling through it) whilst the ten minute outro that is 'Five Points' / 'Howards End' / 'Nasty Hat' showcases some neat slide guitar playing & then curtails proceedings on what could well have been the highlight of the album.

A bit of a disappointment then potentially. The material herein may be better appreciated live but on the whole it doesn't inspire repeat listening just on the sum of its own merits. Every band has a below par album now and again and it would seem that this just happens to be KC&TPMB's treading water effort. 

Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds headline the opening show of the 2016 Franklin Fest at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on June 23. Tickets available here.

La Araña Es La Vida is available from amazon & iTunes.