London-based trio Marseille Figs 'first full-length album includes an engaging country-skiffle song in which frontman J. Maizlish muses upon the efficacy of chat-up lines uttered by Don Juan, Casanova and Romeo. The California-born Maizlish is dismissive of their bon mots, but he can't help but envy the trio's "bed them, then breakfast with them skills": "Any such crap/ man they had it on tap/ and it was 'Honey How You Like Your Eggs?'" he sings.

Such playfulness is a staple of the Figs 'approach, but elsewhere on their bluegrass, avant-garde jazz and Klezmer-influenced record the humour is darker. "Caesar's Revenge," kicking-off with filthy, rasping sax, soon evolves into an episodic tale of a wilful, ill-starred misfit, its titular hero showing no remorse when he eventually bites back. Bible black, Southern Gothic in flavour and communicated with maximum drama and relish, it's the kind of song that would sit nicely on Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 1992 album Henry's Dream.

Maizlish handles vocals, guitar and ukulele on The Dirty Canon, and has able foils in multi-instrumentalists Dorian McFarland (accordion, mouth-harp etc.) and Tom Chant (saxophones, clarinet and keyboards). This core trio is joined by a rhythm section comprising drummer Jack Brennan and… read more »