Great music has no expiry date, though this is an album that I should have reviewed much sooner as it was released in June 2024 and has undoubtedly become one of my all-time favourite albums. Without further ado, I’ll get into this review.

The album opens with “IM SO SORRY” (written in caps and without an apostrophe) where the the Cape Town-based Sakawa Boys gently ease the listener into the experience via pleasant guitar melodies which are then joined by filtered, radio-interview esque conversational snippets that hint at an art-rock direction and provides a memorable introduction that melts into the second song, and titular track of the album, “Out of the Dark” which then pursues a slightly darker and more post-punk and shoegaze sound that is reflective of the album in general. As the song continues, Sakawa Boys, demonstrate their talent for well-crafted guitar melodies and poetic lyrics tinged with melancholia that reflects, in my opinion, some potential influence from The Smiths and The Cure though this is subtle as Sakawa Boys evidently have their own musical sound and identity.

Whilst every song on the album is strong, “Sorry Brother”, is one my my personal favourites due to the contemplative lyrics and shoegaze guitar melodies which both work well during the chorus where the reverb gives the vocals and guitar lines a spacious and atmospheric sound. The opening lyrics of: “Tell me what is it // That keeps us tied up in // Just some small piece of what we had // I know that you have been // So tired and wasted with // These sour grapes // This rotting fruit // Is it meant to be // This hard // Again? // Am I meant to feel // This way // Again?” have an emotional edge and rawness that I admire.

Continuing, “Berlin” is a faster song that leans a bit more into the band’s post-punk side and is the very first song of Sakawa Boys that I heard when it was first sent to me and it quickly made me a fan. The fuzzy bass and angst-driven vocal performance push this song and, inevitably, invites the listener to foot-tap or hand-drum (depending on the setting) along with it – I expect that this song works particularly well at live shows. Lyrically, the song uses humour to reflect upon Cape Town’s music scene and the occurrence of musicians moving to Berlin.

At this point the listener has reached the halfway point of the album and is treated to “It’s Always Personal”, another reverb-treated song with great guitar melodies and poignant lyrics delivered by somewhat haunting vocals. I particularly love the final verse and its use of repetition: “Don’t stand in front of me // And say you still believe // Don’t count on anyone // It’s always // Always // Always personal”. This is a thoroughly superb song that makes the mid-point of the album as memorable as any of the singles.

Another favourite is “Brain Fog”, previously explored via a dedicated single review. This gem is more energetic and showcases the band’s uses of contrasting dynamics throughout the song as well as more fantastic guitar melodies that seem to constantly evolve as the song plays, keeping the listener engaged with each change in direction. Sakawa Boys themselves reveal that the song “captures the essence of the modern experience of perpetual distraction and overstimulation. [It] explores the intense demands of daily life, from work and communication with friends and family to the constant barrage of marketing and the ceaseless quest for information. It’s a vivid portrayal of the exhaustion that comes with the relentless pace of contemporary life.”

The wonderful chiming guitar melodies that introduce “Loves Labour” are quickly replaced by a rockier style that takes the song in a darker and more alternative-rock direction. The fuzzy bass and brash vocals give this part of the song an energy and angst-fuelled character that is beautifully balanced by a return to a more melodic and slightly more mellow style that commands the song from the halfway-point and gives the listener a memorable moment from the extended outro.

Album-closer, “Hours”, is a gorgeous song in its own right and bookends the song beautifully. The warm timbre of the vocals and layered guitar melodies showcase the brilliant songwriting abilities of Sakawa Boys and ensure that the listener finishes the album on a high-note.

Sakawa Boys’ “Out of the Dark” is a superb album that is well-rounded, with each song showcasing the group’s talents. In my opinion, each song is fantastic and the album is all killer with no filler. Crucially, the album demonstrates musical variety whereby each song both sounds different and yet cohesive, which makes for a truly satisfying listening experience. I rarely utilise numerical ratings, though I’d undoubtedly rate this a 10 out of 10.

Track Listing:
1. “I’m So Sorry”
2. “Out of the Dark”
3. “Sorry Brother”
4. “Berlin”
5.”It’s Always Personal”
6. “Brain Fog”
7. “Loves Labour”
8. “Hours”

Sawaka Boys’ biography offers a detailed dive into their musical journey:
The return of the Cape Town-based four-piece will be heralded by the release of their second full-length album through The Good Times Co on June 28th. The album is titled Out of the Dark and it signals the next phase of the journey taken by John Seth (vocals and guitar), Peter Scott (drums), Skye MacInnes (guitar) and Keenan Oakes (bass) to play music together.

The journey is anchored in friendship, with all the ups and downs that can come when friends come together to create something out of nothing as it was when Sakawa Boys first began making music together back in 2013.

Back then, a quartet of friends found their relationship blossoming into a musical project which came to govern much of their personal and emotional lives for a period of roughly four years, between 2013-2017. Drummer Scott and vocalist and guitarist Seth had been childhood friends. Scott then  introduced Seth to guitarist and musician MacInnes back in 2009 and they soon became good friends. After many misadventures and years of fumbling around with the odd jam, Peter pushed for them to begin a project in earnest. Soon after, in December of 2013, Oakes, a mutual friend, was invited to play bass and the quartet was complete. 

The band was named Sakawa Boys after the infamous Ghanaian email scammers who are reputed to use ritualistic practices in rural villages of Ghana to gain good fortune scamming unwitting westerners on the internet. The band were intrigued by the juxtaposition of old and new superstitions wrapped up in the practice of Sakawa. Something as ancient as rural magic used for something as “modern” as online scamming. They also saw a kinship with their own very-online generation who, in their own way, spent all day constructing false identities to swindle people into loving them on the internet. 

From the outset the band’s ambition has been to seek out a sonic identity which honoured their favoured musical traditions without becoming derivative. Coming up in the Cape Town scene in the 2000s, Sakawa Boys’ members were tired of hearing artists who basically did a great impression of some or other more famous American or British band. “Some of us were even in such bands,” says Seth, “but that is another story entirely”.

Sakawa Boys’ ambition was clear: combine the relentless physicality and rhythms of 70s German krautrock, the power and intensity of post-punk, the melodic sensibilities of indie and pop, and the cavernous emotional ambience of shoegaze into an all-in-one musical package which amounted to something greater than the sum of its parts. 

It found expression in Sakawa Boys 2014’s Anxiety, but the release of that debut album came at a time when personal relationships between the band members were floundering and fracturing. 

“I had applied for and been accepted to a scholarship programme for masters level studies in Stockholm, where I also had a long-distance relationship,” shares Seth. “Possibly due to my imminent departure, but also because of the emotional pressure I placed on myself to mix and finalise the album, relationships became strained and it was clear that the future of the band was somewhat in doubt for the rest of the group. From my side, the plan was to go to Europe and seek to promote our newly minted record in the hopes of being able to secure opportunities in Stockholm and the rest of Europe.”

This proved far more difficult than Seth had anticipated and the record never really took off, aside from the loyal cult following it inspired from a few devotees both in Cape Town and abroad which happily continues to this day. 

MacInnes found success with Honeymoan and Oakes with his new project Constellatia. Seth, meanwhile, became a father of two (and got Long Covid, effectively becoming bed bound for around eight months of 2020). But, in time, the creative relationship between Seth and MacInnes, as the primary songwriters, matured to a point where they were able to respect and challenge each other in the best ways possible. With the band in something of a hibernation state, the two continued trading ideas back and forth, occasionally working on songs when time and availability permitted. Seth, in particular, found the time to reflect on “how unique the musical bond we shared in the band truly was, and how my actions, past and present, served both to nurture but also sevver those bonds”.

All of this feeds into the album Out of the Dark and single of the same name which reveal how effortlessly Sakawa Boys dial up their signature mix of post-punk, indie, shoegaze and pop to 2024. The new music deals with many of these reflections – some regret, some contrition, and hopefully some way of capturing the feeling of how special it is to make music with your best friends. 

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