VanFokkingTasties - VanFokkingTasties

Fokofpolisiekar's last acoustic album was Monoloog in Stereo and seven years later they've mushroomed into three more successful  bands - Van Coke Kartel, aKing and Die Heuwels Fantasies with seventeen albums and a documentary between them all. And that's not even counting all the collaborations or links with other bands and artists like Die Antwoord, Jack Parow, Foto Na Dans, Lukraaketaar, Oorlog Frankenstein, Thieve, Zebra & Giraffe, Inge Beckman and many more.

And then eventually the collective effort emerges with the clever quarto name: VanFokKingTasties. "Almal een piel in die jellie", that's how the Bellville comedian, Werner Smit, describes them, after he creatively conjured up the name and sent it to them on Facebook.

On the self titled, collective acoustic VanFokKingTasies album, every one of the four bands reworked two acoustic renditions of old favourites and then recorded a brand new track.

Fokofpolisiekar's new song, "Dagdronk", is an up-beat, melodic sing along that sounds like a diary extract from their current lives in different bands. When Van Coke sings: "Ons is nie meer wie ons oorspronklik was nie" and "want ek werk my fokken poes af / sien nie meer regtig uit na shows nie / kom ons praat oor die ou dae", you get the feeling that instead of getting all angry, loud and rocking, they just want to take a break now and then, get drunk and do some reminiscing.

In the chorus they've borrowed the melody line from Sonja Herholdt's "Ek verlang na jou". The part where she sings: "So verlang ek as die son en die maan en die wind en die wolke oor my gaan"... that part's melody is the same when  Van Coke sings: "Kom ons raak ’n bietjie dronk in die dag en ons hou ’n partytjie in die son". It was obviously purposely executed and quite cool to hear a nostalgic melody being recycled.

The reworked "Klipgooi Glashuis"'s acoustic jacket fits the song like a glove and doesn't take away from the song's original energy. The same can be said for "Vasbeslote Korporasie deel 1", but here the added synth glues the acoustic textures and harsh vocals together well and finishes with a powerful acoustic solo.

Van Coke Kartel's new song, "Almal is bang" has an awesome country/acoustic rock-twang to it, something you've never heard from them. The verses are layered with beautiful harmonies and the chorus gives you a powerful kick in the balls. This track definitely stands out on the album.

"Dead End Ave." is aKing's new song and offers the listener a signature aKing chord progression and over all sound – playing it safe (as houses). Laudo Liebenberg's vocal arrangements and phrasing on the track will remind you of their early influence, Thin Lizzy. It's nothing you've never heard from them before and fits perfectly within their canon.

Die Heuwels Fantasies' new track, "Tyd", features Hunter Kennedy's lead vocal in the soft, fragile verses and then the all familiar Heuwels frontman Pierre Greeff takes the choruses. The track is layered with a string section and sensitive, xylophone-like percussion. 

It slowly progresses and eventually the drums help the song to climax and then it stops suddenly with the same lyric Kennedy started with: "Ek sal daarvan hou as alls ophou, net eenvoudig ophou". After a minute or two of silence a great Fokofpolisiekar hidden track emerges... I don't want to spoil it for you, but think Richard Cheese's sexy wife tapping a classic.

The album as a whole is a great novelty purchase for the true fans who have followed Fokofpolisiekar and its offspring bands religiously since they emerged. But it's sort of like Lord of Rings: The Return of the King, you won't be able to really grasp the album if you haven't read The Hobbit, Fellowship of Ring and Two Towers.

Listen to the song Oorlewing 101 off the album here: