Review: Number - Pollinate (Ramrock Red Records)

When Jo Wallace (head honcho at Ramrock, F*CLR and many other enterprises) broke news of a 'Listening Party' for the Numbers' ten track album, 'Pollinate' she confidently said, "You can thank me later", how right was she then?

Curiously enough, Mrs Ramrock was spot on as ever having found a hybrid 'ACR, Talking Heads, P-Funk' that fits the bill from the opener, 'Amber' to the end, 'Rebel Corner' with a smidgen of dub.

Numbers are the duo of Ali Friend (double bass) and (drums) that were two thirds of Red Snapper who were doing this sort of thing (downtempo, dubby trip hop, breaks, acid jazz and more) 30 years ago on WARP and being remixed by Weatherall's Sabres Of Paradise and hanging out (professionally) with Beth Orton!

So whilst they have loads of history, 'Pollinate' is more than just seeds of a flowering progress .  'Discoid' has that, you'd never guess, disco groove and old skool vocoder that seems to be trendy once more whilst 'Let's Stamp On It' is 2026/ACR/Chic (they're a couple of charmers).

It's not all bass and boogie as we do enter a new wave-Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark/Tears For Fears(-ish) via 'Smoke In The Skies' teritory.  And the tracks are all quite punchy pop tune length but 'Stone Chat' stands out at over 5 mins and instrumental with lots of squelchy electronics which they say is, "Lead by guitars this is a nod to classic jazz-funk workouts".

A they don't mind an experiment with the beautiful 'Window Of Opportunity' (bowed bass and moog-Taurus) that falls between Delia Derbyshire and George Martin; it's brilliant!  

And for fans of London based art rockers 'Modern Nature', guitarist Tara Cunningham guests here on a plucky jam 'Bath Vaults'.  If you ever wondered what Arthur Russell (thank you Mr Kedros) might be doing with the Durutti Column (thank you Mikey McMikestar) in dub, check 'Grin And Wave' again with extra guitar from Ms Cunningham.

Fans of 'Le Boucle Noveau' EP from last year (see review HERE) will get this straight away and 'Amber' sounds special on every repeat listen. And there's even an A Certain Ratio remix of 'Amber' available - a sort of ACR double up.

PS. Don't forget to thank Ms.Wallace next time you see her.

Buy Link / Pre-Order: RRRLP017 - Number - Pollinate | Number | Ramrock

Artist: Number

Title: Pollinate
Release date: 15th January, 2026
Label: Ramrock Red Records
Cat. No: RRRLP17
Format: Bandcamp / Digital

Review: Number - Le Boucle Nouveau EP (Ramrock Red Record)

Your Number is up as Ramrock Red Records release numbers 84 and 85 with Le Boucle Nouveau EP and 'Le Boucle Nouveau' Duncan Gray Remix.

It's a busy week at Ramrock HQ as The Secret Garden's latest single 'Spirals' featuring Cordelia Olwen and Joseph Malik's 'Adult Contemporary' (Shuya Okino + ROOT SOUL Rework EP) are both coming out soon.  But, when Mrs Ramrock, Jo Wallace, was approached by Rich Thair and Ali Friend (co-founders of Red Snapper) with a brand new project from their band, Number, room had to be found in the busy schedule.

We are told that the pair have performed all over the globe and been on the bill supporting some of the biggest bands as you'll likely to name but their real lust was to recreate "dirty disco bass lines, noisy drum machines, wonky percussion, leering live drums, jagged guitar melodies and uplifting soulful songs of the 80s".  And it's fair to say they've managed to do that on the teaser from their forthcoming album - the brand new single ‘Le Boucle Nouveau’.

Do you wanna add dub to that lot? You can in the form of a the Duncan Gray remix that taps into Andrew Weatherall's legacy and Sean Johnston's 'A Love From Outer Space' sensibilities.

As a fan of 'Weeds Up To Me Knees', any album titled 'Pollinate' is going to get the YATM office excited. If you need a bit of a 101, their first album, in 2020, was on Sunday Best, and 'Binary' featured the track 'Face Down In Ecstasy' which was lauded by Lauren Lavern, featured an acclaimed video by Leo Nicholson and got onto the coveted BBC 6 Music playlist.

It would seem the pollinators have done a number on the duo as they've moved on from Sponge Bob's Square Talkin' Head animations.

 

Artist: Number

Title: Le Boucle Nouveau EP/ Le Boucle Nouveau (Duncan Gray Remix) EP

Release date: 25th July, 2025 / 8th August 2025

Label: Ramrock Red Records

Cat. No: RRR084 / RRR085

Format: Bandcamp / Digital