Yes Sir Boss

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Yes Sir Boss show in London, at The Finsbury.

A middle-aged campervan and 6 musicians on a 10-week tour for new album, Desperation State. Enter Yes Sir Boss.

"Please don’t ask us about what our influences are." This is coming from Tom First, the trumpet and piano player/self-titled ping-pong champion of the group. And rightfully put, as they ignore conventions and mash-up genres with brilliant recklessness. Imagine Tom Waits had a bastard child in some Eastern European brothel, who liked jazz. That lucky kid is Yes Sir Boss.

"We’re all strong characters," drummer Reuben Nimmo puts in. Quite simply then, Yes Sir Boss is what happens when you have Tom, Reuben, bassist Josh Stopford, saxophonist Jehan Abdel-Malak, guitarist Luke Potter and lead vocalist Matthew Sellors, all in a room. They are a talented, good-looking bunch, squeezed in a beauty of a van. Reuben himself is the newest member, not that it’s apparent in the slightest. They define a family band.

Album Desperation State has been a long time coming for them - they’ve been making tunes together for the last 5 years, only born after a 6-month stint in a desolate cabin somewhere. I’m not joking.

After signing with Joss Stone’s label, Stoned Records, they were free to drop their luscious tracks on the public. But don’t think that means they’re basking in the finished product. "We’re already moving forward, on the next album," says Matthew.

The album itself is filled with brilliant vocal harmonies, like in the song “Desperation State”, while other songs like "My My" have a slower tempo, which work beautifully.

But the variety of music can be a bit too discordant at times. The differences sometimes work together, and sometimes they don’t. There’s some lack of identity but you can see that Yes Sir Boss is building from some solid stuff.

The tunes that verge into more haunting Eastern European territory are especially worthy, like "Na Na Ooh". A bit like Beirut but with the feeling that you just want to lose your mind via dancing and spit wine everywhere like Gogol Bordello.

Yes Sir Boss performing at Chai Wallahs - Beachbreak.

They played Glastonbury and Bestival, to name a few and surely will be playing many more. Yes Sir Boss can work an audience, and make it look stupidly easy. Solos from Jehan are understated and perfect while "Mrs. #1", a standout track, is sung with raw sincerity. The crowd was mesmerized like some cult.

And creating an album with 6 strong cult leaders can’t be easy. As Josh puts it, "We fight all the time, but we’ve accepted we have to speak to each other forever." Now that’s a fucking family if I ever heard one.