Sometimes we all need to make room for something a little bit different. And different is definitely the word to describe ‘SETALIGHTSATELLITE’ by Joe Boyd. It’s a groovy jazz-punk track that gets you lumbering along in a haze, before it abruptly knocks you out of it.

With hints of The White Stripes and Band Of Horses, the track’s punk-rock roots are definitely evident throughout… but they’re overshadowed by something. Something that prevents this track from being just another throwaway rock track. And that something is the abrasive-smooth contrast the song has going on. Combining punk’s crunchy distorted guitars with a sophisticated smooth vocals is a rather unusual approach to take, but it’s one that pays off well for Joe Boyd.

As the track progresses, you get absorbed into the realm of Boyd’s velvety vocals and the repetition of the distorted guitar riff. It soon feels like you’re fixed in a musical moment, lumbering in place as music swirls around you in a never-ending vortex of heavy guitars and Gaz Coombes-esque vocals.

But Boyd snaps us out of it, abruptly, with the dying seconds of the track – swapping the swaying jazz-punk for straightforward punk-rock. It’s a standard piece of punk riffery, but it’s one that rouses you and brings you back to reality – just in time for the track to finish and you to hit play again.

Great work from Boyd, and we can’t wait to hear more!

8/10