Sons Of Mowgli, St Luke’s Church, Liverpool. August 2014.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It is often reported as a matter of fact that every living Human on the planet could stand side by side on the Isle of Wight, aside from the logistical nightmare and the social faux pas of finding yourself next to someone who thinks they are a clever so and so and refusing to shake your hand, just exactly how would you entertain everybody whilst the experiment was proved? If you made everybody listen to an I-Pod and made sure that the first songs they heard were by Wirral-band Sons of Mowgli, then at least whilst wondering why you would conduct such an insane experiment, the people stood shoulder to shoulder on the Isle of Wight would have something decent to listen to.

The world may be a jungle, in some cases of our own inadequate making, but for Sons of Mowgli there is a clearing set aside, the moment of peaceful surrender that comes with the knowledge that what you have stepped into is not a mirage, that there is not a panther in sight and the only music playing is supplied by a group of talented musicians and not a bear with a coconut fetish.

The gentleness that haunted with skill and enterprise the band’s previous E.P. was easily transplanted to the natural beauty that sits in the heart of the Liverpool City Centre, the Bombed out Church of St Luke’s. Together with the added bonus of a couple of new songs added to the mix, the jungle became a small paradise, a veritable Garden of Eden but with no talking snakes with a mischievous bent and the only tempting fruit was the music placed before an appreciative crowd.

Away from the type of sound supplied by the likes of the fantastic Billy Kelly and the surprising beauty that rocked Jimmy and The Revolvers acoustic set, Sons of Mowgli took on the creeping vines and permanent sell off attitude of the local council to deliver a piece of music that crept through the soul and gently eased the pain behind the temple. Songs such as Market Street, Tomorrow I Leave For Good, the superb Come What May, the alluring and Manic Street Preacher’s like One Day We’ll Get The Truth and Lose Our Minds filled the space between gentle and earthy and open rebellion of the soul.

For fans of Sons of Mowgli the prospect of a new E.P. is an enticing prospect, to hear songs in advance is a thrill. For those who made their way to the Liverpool sanctuary of St. Luke’s, the jungle retreated, cerebral and spiritual confusion was hacked away and only a calm scene of musical intelligence remained.

Ian D. Hall