On one of the most unique recordings of the year, the Hampton Roads band Mosquito Cabaret have released their debut album “The Modern Life of Insects.”  They’ve been playing to revved up shows in the area for over a year and this album captures that excitement but also the eccentricity of authentic gypsy folk music.  

The band is working with the long-time Hampton Roads producer Jackie Paolella who helps bring about a perfect eclectic mix of accordion, mandolin, and a varied horn section to back the bravado of lead vocalist Julian Ku. Miles Hoyle’s accordion work anchors the band but Ku’s vocals and lyrics bring the music to life.

With songs about drunken wedding feasts, a ménage a tois, even a graphic description of the French revolution told from the perspective of a rat, the theatrical nature of the lyrics is the perfect match to old-world style instrumentation.

Caught between the punk extreme of Gogol Bordello and the folksiness of Devotchka, Mosquito Cabaret’s “The Modern Life of Insects” is a fresh take on a style that has been around for hundreds of years but has rarely sounded this contemporary.    

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