The Cambodian Space Project: Whisky Cambodia review – enormous fun

Guardian | 10 July 2014

 

Energetic and quirky … Cambodian Space Project

At first listen, the Cambodian Space Project sound suspiciously like Dengue Fever copycats. After all, here's a western rock band fronted by a feisty female Cambodian singer, reviving the cheerfully hybrid pop that flourished in Phnom Penh in the 1960s and early 70s, until the Khmer Rouge moved in. The Space Project was founded by an Australian, Julien Poulson, joined by some of the veteran Motown players Cambodians would have heard on records blasting in from US forces' radio stations in Vietnam. The key figure here is guitarist Dennis Coffey, who played with the the Funk Brothers and recorded with the Temptations, and sounds rejuvenated backing the energetic Srey Thy. Her songs are mostly in Khmer, and range from surf rock to R&B and brooding ballads. Quirky and enormous fun.