Band: Legs on Wheels | Album: Gobble | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2026
From: Manchester, UK | Label: Dismembers Club Records
For fans of: Cardiacs, Caravan, early Soft Machine, The Dear Hunter
I like the Canterbury sound a lot, but the modern practitioners of this sound can be a bit like zeuhl. Where zeuhl often devolves into rote Magma worship, so too do many neo-Canterbury acts slavishly strive to sound like Soft Machine or Caravan.
Legs on Wheels is a Mancunian quintet that does an incredible job of taking classic Canterbury influence and melding it into more modern sounds. The band dabbles in punk, psychedelia, and art rock alongside more progressive strains of rock. The music is consistently energetic and varied, and Gobble, the band’s third full-length release, is a delightful listen.
Gobble kicks off with the tasty, hard-rocking “Oysters on the Half Shell”. Discordant punk riffs are woven in with Canterbury-tinged keyboard lines. This song demonstrates a keen ability to go between edgy, jumpy passages and mellower moments underpinned with jazz touches. There’s also a certain theatricality that I really appreciate, especially in the vocals.
After some simian hooting “A.P.E.S.” launches into a woozy, odd-time piano-and-synth lick that evokes apes brachiating from branch to branch. It’s got a fun, loose feel that complements the preceding song’s intensity. Hints of late ‘60s psychedelic pop and that classic Canterbury sense of humor align excellently. More retro ‘60s sounds continue on “Winner Winner”, this time in the form of space-age lounge-y jazz. The mood here is laid-back, and I really like the electric piano tones and percussion. The closing moments sound like an interlude off Selling England by the Pound, and I love those lush textures.
This passage leads smoothly into a jumpy and tense riff that channels dashes of alt-rock and ska-punk on “Peekaboo”. Mathy guitar lines marry with Cardiacs-inspired piano passages. Legs on Wheels balances an impressively wide array of styles and influences on this rather short cut.
“Waiting for His Drowning” is melodic and gradually swells, driven by rich organ tones and guitar lines that climb upward. Contrasting stripped-back and quieter moments make this song’s more ascendant passages that much more impactful.
“Centipede” dips into some ‘90s-style folky alt-rock sounds that are draped over the band’s framework of weird rhythms, odd time signatures, and dynamic shifts. It’s catchy but still unabashedly weird. I love some of the instrumental excursions the band takes in the second half of the song. In particular, there’s a wonderful crunchy, wah-ed-out organ solo supported by jazzy hand percussion.
Cardiacs-influenced pronk predominates on “Dinnertime for Rat”. Rhythms are wonky and staggering, and scratchy guitar lines are contrasted against lush, warbling keyboard tones.
Gobble closes on its longest track, the nearly-11-minute “Masteroid”. Artsy alt-rock sounds kick things off, with the mood being rather restrained compared to the band’s usual madcap intensity. Jazzy tones give this song a sense of hopefulness.
Moving into the midsection of “Masteroid”, Legs on Wheels pick up the pace a bit. Folky guitar lines help ground this piece, and I again want to complement some of the less-conventional types of percussion on display here. Stretched-out Gilmourian guitar lines and astral keyboard tones help to lift this piece into the stratosphere as it enters its final movement. After propelling itself upward, “Masteroid” closes out on a mellow, drifting passage which gradually dissolves into the ether.
Legs on Wheels’ newest record is fantastic. It’s a wonderful, unique twist on classic sounds. Their jazzy Canterbury-punk is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Score: 92/100
The Elite Extremophile 