There’s been alot of musical exploration into 60’s/70’s Africa these days. Everywhere you turn there are reissue comps of little known Afro-funk bands from Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria etc. Don’t get me wrong ….I appreciate and love almost all of that stuff…but what really gets me charged are the more hard-to-come-by 70’s Afro-fuzz-punk bands. You may remember my Chrissy Zebby Tembo post a month or so ago….well here is another hunk of Afro proto-punk to wreck your lugs with. I kinda liken Witch as the MC5 to Chrissy Tembo’s The Stooges. A bit more refined….better players….but still holding true to that punk attitude that makes these Zambian garage-rockers so appealing.

“Motherless Child” is taken from the album Lazy Bones which was recorded in Zambia in 1975. The track kicks off with a baby’s wail (all the best ones do…see Dillinger’s Headquarters dub) then tears into a Stones-like blues riff. She’s a rocker thru and thru and perfect for that hot-summer raw R&R mix you’ve been meaning to put together….

ARTIST: Witch (We Intend To Cause Havoc)
TRACK: Motherless Child
ALBUM: Lazy Bones
YEAR: 1975
REISSUE LABEL: Shadoks

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