Ritmos Calentitos

A slice of fresh fruit served on a steel platter, the Sheffield-based groovy psychedelic fusion ten-piece of Mango Rescue Team combines experience and talent stretching back into local legend. If you've ever heard of The Mother Folkers, Flamingo Love Parade or The 7 Black Tentacles, then you'll be well aware of the flesh that accompanies these bones.

All music is performed with maximum smile and oomph worthy of any carnival. These guys love their rhythms, as shown by quirky, rolling fills that leap from genre to genre while the backing continues and the head-nodding carries on as if nothing has happened. The energetic quality is continually sweet. The guitar often has distortion and the sound is large, but overall it's like a soft drink. Or is it an alcopop? I do seem a little happier than usual now...

'Bomba' tells a story to a beat in which our singer details his time in Sheffield in a northern accent. The ska horns create a tapestry in between the weft of drums, full of metallic cymbal delicacies. Plucked notes and percussion all round, the song keeps going until it seemingly collapses in a heap on the floor, quivering with laughter. 'Loco', an older track, has been reworked to have a disco feel. The attitude is slick, funky and full of charm. The fantastic thing is that the remixed elements improve the song without tampering with it.

Get ready for the spring by looking out for this Sheffield band. Mango Rescue Team are bound to put on an extravaganza of a show.

Rowan Blair Colver