Whoa!…..just picked this up today. It’s a fuzzed-out African psych/garage/pop toe-tapper from 1974. This track coulda been Africa’s answer to New Zealand’s The Clean had it not been recorded 4 years before the Clean’s formation. Maybe it’s the other way around…..maybe the Clean is New Zealand’s answer to Zambia’s Chrissy Zebby Tembo! In any case this track rips! The opening guitar almost reminds me of Smells Like Teen Spirit….you almost think he’s gonna bust into some broken, pre-realized cover of the Nirvana classic….but naw…Chrissy keeps it real. Throughout the song Chrissy and the family thankfully retain that naive proto-punk style….crunchy, repetitive and loose…..and make it their own thing.

“I’ve Been Loosing” is pulled from a re-issue of Tembo’s 1974 album My Ancestors. The whole album is a peach. Head-bopping, funny, sincere, fuzzed-out and just downright enjoyable from start to finish. This ‘aint your Dad’s Afro beat….In fact it’s not really Afro beat at all…it’s Afro garage pop…..and I want more!

ARTIST: Chrissy Zebby Tembo and Ngozi Family
TRACK: “Ive Been Loosing”
ALBUM: My Ancestors
YEAR: 1974