UKULELE DEATH SQUAD
Acapela Studios, Pentyrch, nr. Cardiff - 19th August 2026
This one was another of MrsRobster's choices, and she roped TheMadster into joining us as well. Ukulele Death Squad are an octet based in Adelaide, Australia. To date, they've released a handful of EPs, but their stock lies in their live shows. Despite what their name suggests, only two or three members play ukuleles, but many of them are multi-instrumentalists which allows for all sorts of things to happen during a show. Brass, percussion, sax solos played by the drummer... The most striking member is arguably vocalist Matthew Barker, a large bearded fella who takes the stage in a very sheer black dress with tape stuck across his nipples!
I suppose you could label Ukulele Death Squad as punk-folk, but there is a real element of Latin-American rhythms in there too, which maybe why they have, on occasion, had the World Music tag foisted upon them (much to the band's derision).
There's much to admire and enjoy about the show, with a healthy dose of good old Aussie humour at the forefront of what they do. Perhaps the confines of the Acapela's small stage may have posed a small restriction on the band's ability to move about, but they coped pretty well in spite of this. Song-wise, Fuck The Man and Not Afraid stood out most to me.
But - and I have to be careful here, MrsRobster may be reading - too often the whole thing strayed uncomfortably into corny cabaret territory, and there were far too many overly-long solos. Maybe that's the punk in me coming out, but I began to get bored with some songs the longer they went on.
Overall, this wasn't really the sort of thing I'd rush out to see again, but it was reasonably enjoyable, and not something I'd seen the likes of before. Most importantly, both MrsRobster and TheMadster loved it.
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