There’s that scene in the film High Fidelity when record shop owner Rob boldly claims he’ll now flog some records as he pops a Beta Band EP on the turntable. We watch in wonder as the vinyl heads become entranced by the music. These days that plot would surely feature a Mandrake Handshake record. So beguiling is their sound they ought to be everyone’s new favourite band.
Fresh from the recent release of their debut album Earth-Sized Worlds “the Mandrakes” have sold out their headline show tonight in the suitably cool surroundings of Hackney Wick and the No 90 venue.
Assembled here are the already smitten. Fans drawn under the spell of vocalist Trinity and the groovy collective of musicians. At the merch table, a fan is tidying some flyers as he chats about being a Hawkwind fan. Amongst the assembled throng are passionate music lovers who hear elements of Stereolab, Broadcast, psychedelic prog and soulful hippy Tropicália in the music. Mandrake Handshake defines their vibe as ‘Flowerkraut’, and it really is a blooming beautiful sound.
The diminutive figure of Canadian lead vocalist Trinity Oksana emerges through the half-lit gloom, and she remains submerged in darkened shadow throughout most of the set. Unlike the music, Trinity is never quite tall enough to rise up out of the atmospheric darkness. ‘Trinity’ – now there’s a name that was surely destined to lead a psychedelic band of merry souls!
The venue is packed. The stage is packed. Mandrake Handshake are many and they’re a challenge to even the best wide-angle lens. Convention means nothing here. The Mandrakes launch straight into the majestic colossus that is Hyposonic Super-Asterid. Originally, their debut single back in 2020, it’s been reworked and re-recorded for their debut album. There are artists out there that would save this epic for their encore. Such is the strength in depth of this Oxford based band’s discography they choose to treat Hackney Wick immediately. It really is the “motorik marching of sound”. Hyposonic wears its Stereolab influences on its sleeve and pays homage to The Groop. They’re somehow warmer than their heroes, though. If Stereolab traverse the Krautrocking icy mountain peak then Trinity and co are on the melting glacier, swimming in the warmer pools and floating around the compulsive eddies. Trinity is wigging out, shaking her hair and delivering a stream of delicious “ba-ba” refrains. It’s a transcendental mantra. Someone needs to light the sandalwood joss sticks now, please!
Meanwhile, percussionist Elvis Thirlwell (again, born to rock, huh!) is just warming up with his fuzzy gingery hair bouncing around – he’s definitely the effervescent joker in the pack.
The vocal interplay between Trinity and co-vocalist Rudy Symonds is always exquisite and never better than on Emonzaemon – another blissed out slab of psyche-prog harmonic pop. Trinity pauses to hydrate frequently during the set and with songs so long and full who can blame her.
The calmer mood of Charlie’s Comet offers a soulful and jazzy respite on this steamy night at No 90. It’s Trinity as a cool torch singer sometimes reminiscent of Sade or Working Week. Lorenzo’s Desk has a similar bedsit soul-jazz vibe. Had Mandrake Handshake emerged in the 1980s the Style Council would’ve dragged them on tour and legendary producer Robin Millar would no doubt have been wowed by their sound.
Then there’s a return to that delicious Stereolab sound again with Time Goes Up. If I close my eyes – hey, it is actually dark enough here anyway – this could be the double A side to Miss Modular or a secret hidden track from the Dots and Loops album – complete with a bleeping, squelching outro. I’m conflicted. I want the world to be here now to experience this moment yet I want to gorge on this music all by myself. Either way, the spine is tingling and I love this band.
Elvis is getting more animated, and Rudy’s harmonies are even sweeter. Meanwhile, Trinity continues to meditatively sway deeper into the flowing grooves as the rest of the band journeys through the metronomic underground. Every band the size of Mandrake Handshake needs a leader or someone keeping the whole performance hanging together. Tonight as always it’s lead guitarist Row Janjuah impeccably, but quietly, overseeing everything. That wayward Elvis fella definitely needs checking as he shakes his percussion in the air like he just don’t care – he’s gonna have someone’s third eye out if he doesn’t calm down.
Gonkulator (from the 2022 E.P Shake The Hand That Feeds You) is classic Mandrake Handshake. Acknowledging 70s folk-rock but feeling very futuristic they launch Jethro Tull from the past and land him into the shiny, space garden of the future. Trinity cries “electric, electric” over and over and I suddenly really want to buy a jet-pack. Cosmic pop, man.
Nobody wants this to end. The packed balcony is mesmerised. The dancefloor audience beside the stage seem locked in for the night. The Hackney Wick venue momentarily time travels to the UFO Club in 1967 as Monolith seeps in with all it’s Pink Floyd majesty. Don’t you wish you were here?! The trip is almost complete and the heady souk sentiment of Barranmode is full of eastern promise. Trinity’s gorgeous vocal embellishments fill the air like fragrant aromas from a shisha pipe.
Then it’s almost over. Like that holiday you never thought would end. Mandrake Handshake finish the set with their debut album title track, Earth-Sized Worlds. A typically multi-layered space hymn. It’s what cosmonauts will be listening to as they hurtle through the vast unknown to reach the promised galactic paradise. After their own epic trip I imagined the band would just want to pack up and head out into the East London night but they’re already at the merch table. In contrast to their cooler than school icy heroes, Mandrake Handshake have fantastic engagement with their fans. Spending time getting albums signed, scrawling on stolen posters and chatting freely with everyone. Trinity even signs her name with a flower motif, of course she does!
There’s a universe where Mandrake Handshake is the music playing in that museum bar in Valencia, they are the sounds coming out of that beach hut in Bali and the tunes treading through the sands on the Copacabana. River cafes in Belgrade will echo to the Mandrakes, Vietnamese coffee shops and Brisbane bookshops will chill to their vibe. Record stores in Chicago will sell copies of their album as the needle hits the record. Flowerkraut forever. I like it here, can I stay?
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