It’s a record they’ve been working up to for quite some time, whetting appetites more than a year ago with a little bit of material, and one song in particular, Werewolf Calypso. A lot of the friends they won with that tune were probably frustrated in equal measure, waiting for so long with little else to sate their appetites. Still, Werewolf is quite a song.

A ridiculous Hammer-horror jaunt where our unwitting narrator discovers his best girl is a beast when she takes him for a drink with all of her furry, toothy mates. Mighty Duke & The Lords have two singers and on Werewolf I believe it’s the throat-tearing sounds of ‘Duke’ Wally Maloney that really make all the growling and howling work with a grist worthy of Tom Waits. I’m not throwing shade on the rest of the quintet, they sound a lot more pro than most brassies (and saxophonists and guitarists) you’ll hear working in popular music. Special credit to the group’s single percussionist, Steve ‘Lord Ladybuoy’ Sajkowsky who single-handedly sounds like several sweaty sets of hands.

The rest of the record, now that we finally get to hear it, has the wild humour, bouncing energy and some of the same rhythms of Western ska bands: a calypso Reel Big Fish, if you will. So you get an endless series of japes about missing panties, the virtues of Beyonce Knowles and cannibalism. If you give yourself over to it, it can be a hell of a lot of fun and it’s even more fun live. Mighty Duke & The Lords are one of those bands who are at their best doing it live, slaying them in the aisles, and conversely they suffer the same problems as many other great live bands. The record sounds like it was done in takes with the whole band in one room and although this maintains that all-important live feel, it makes for a lo-fi production quality that steals some of the zing.

Speaking of which, if there is an overriding problem with this debut, it’s that it lacks some of the snarling intensity that made Werewolf such a winner. The band’s other vocalist ‘Mighty’ Glen Walton is more like Bing Crosby than Tom Waits and, for me at least, it further buries the energy the band so clearly have, roiling under the surface.

Whatever might get hidden in the recording process there’s an amazing and highly individual band that it’s impossible to disguise and their offbeat humour continues to grow on me with each listen. Anyway, if you’ve heard them live - then as I’m sure you know- you’ll never need to be convinced of anything about Mighty Duke & The Lords again. Just go to the record store, smile politely and tell them: shut up and take my money.

- Chris Cobcroft.