Connan Mockasin - Please Turn Me Into The Snat

Please Turn Me Into The Snat is the debut album from New Zealand band, Connan and the Mockasins. Now the lead singer is Connan, and so my instant reaction was that his full name was Connan Mockasin and he’d used his whole name to christen his band. I was wrong. His name is Connan Hosford. This confusion, whilst seeming somewhat insignificant, was an immediate indication that this album would make me think differently and intrigue and surprise me. Which it did. Please Turn Me Into The Snat is a joyfully alternative record that deserves a lot more recognition than I fear it will get.

This record is somewhere between psychedelia, bewilderment and just honest childhood glee. And it’s not just sitting there; it’s dancing around with no shoes on, paddling in some sort of nearby brook and being totally absorbed and amazed at the world around it. Whereas other bands seem to be perched uncomfortably between genres (not naming any names…OWL CITY – ‘synth-pop’ my eye.), Please Turn Me Into The Snat is blissfully comfortable with being just where it is.

Connan’s press release describes this album as being ‘somewhere between fantasy and reality’, and I think that’s pretty fair. Through elaborately playful guitar riffs, unusual and imaginative instrumentation and curious lyrics and vocals, Connan takes on a number of personas and introduces a number of whimsical beings, most notably the eponymous ‘Snat’ - which I can tell you is a cross between a snake and a rat, as thought of by a 4 year old child known to Connan as Don Dicaprio.

Rough Trade have picked Please Turn Me Into The Snat out as one of their albums of the month, but like a lot of the reviews and press releases surrounding this album, they’ve just used a lot of buzz-words like ‘kaleidoscopic’ which, while sounding all very exciting, don’t actually say enough about the record to make me want to buy it. I think there’s a certain trepidation that comes with trying to describe an album as individual as this, for fear that it might sound a bit weird, which is a crying shame because Please Turn Me Into The Snat is fantastic.

Let’s pick out a few songs. When I put this album onto my computer, the first thing I noticed was that one track, ‘Forever Dolphin Love’, was ten minutes long, never mind its bizarre title. And I’ve got to admit, that did put me off. I thought I’d get bored. I should’ve known that I’d be wrong; in Connan’s world, anything goes and normality is suddenly ridiculous. The first five minutes or so of the track is made up of an eerie instrumental, possibly influenced by the fact that some of this album was recorded in ‘a haunted house in Wellington’. Its peculiarity keeps it interesting and so by the time Connan’s vocals creep in, you’re already hooked and suitably relaxed to allow Connan to coax you into his naïve and psychedelic little world, and the ten minutes have passed you by like it were only ten seconds. Trippy.

‘Egon Hosford’ is another favourite of mine. A comparably mere two minutes twelve, this song is full of the unlimited energy that sets this album soaring above the rest. A constant rolling drum underscore never lets the excitement drop and similar to ‘Forever Dolphin Love’, the seconds rush past unnoticed. Connan’s vocals are hard to pin down particularly, but that’s actually not much of an issue. By this point (track number seven), the mind’s already too absorbed by Connan’s fantasy to care.

Connan and the Mockasins are refreshingly indie in the true sense of the word. There really aren’t any other analogous artists that even come close to mainstream around at the moment, and it’s affirming to find that there are still musicians out there confidently making the music that they want; not worrying about whether the label will approve. Whereas other artists are starting to sound a bit similar to each other, i.e. Gaga/Madonna (ooh controversial), the only similarities I can draw to Connan are from way back when in the sixties, where Please Turn Me Into The Snat would fit in very comfortably indeed.

Unfortunately though, as a genre in this modern day, psychadelia is not for the masses. This is a stunning little record, from an artist relatively unheard by the British ear, but it demands a commitment of time; you can’t properly appreciate it on the first listen and in this day and age, that’s simply asking too much. (I blame Bieber.) Please Turn Me Into The Snat is one of the most rewarding albums that I’ve gladly given my time to this year, and I implore you to do the same. Unlike the world cup, it won’t end in disappointment, and unlike Big Brother, it won’t destroy your soul – really, Please Turn Me Into The Snat is your only option.

By Rosie