Bristol Crocodile Mystery: Spotlighting new music in the city

Since you are an Epigram Music reader, it is safe for me to assume that the city of Bristol’s music scene has been a source of inspiration and enjoyment for you. But has it ever inspired you to write an album? Second-year Economics and Finance student Minh Bui’s Bristol Crocodile Mystery is an innovative album written and recorded in his own Bristol flat, interwoven with Bristol’s geography and youthful musical culture.

The album opens with the kindly titled ‘Welcome (Get In)’, with an immediate Strokes-esque sound – one of Bui’s listed inspirations, along with The Velvet Underground, The Beatles, Patti Smith, and The Ramones. The tracks have a heartwarming but dynamically varying and engaging sound, with lyrics evoking an atmosphere of the free love movement of the sixties.

Throughout, you’ll find trumpets, creative guitar riffs, and a brass section in ‘Brandon Hill’s Veteran Sunkissee’. The album pleasantly guides you through in a sort of Magical Mystery Tour of Bristol, greeting the listener with ‘Welcome to this world of mine, let me take you for a ride’ and waving bye with ‘Thanks for coming and I loved having you with me’.

Bui, in fact, includes an indirect reference to Bristol locations in each of his songs. Some are distinct, like Brandon Hill, the Grace Reeves Library, which Bui frequents, or the nearby Clevedon in ‘Clevedon’s Basking Reptiles’ – a song evoking the distinct vibe of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

Bui tells me that ‘Painting Painting’ even includes a direct reference to the acclaimed Bristol foodie spot Sandwich Sandwich. The subtle mentions feel almost exciting to spot, or rather they craft a sense of collective experience and belonging to our city. After all, it isn’t often one may hear their favourite sandwich spot mentioned in a song.

So, what actually is the Bristol Crocodile Mystery? Bui informs me of coming across an article regarding the legendary crocodile rumoured to roam the harbour. The rumour began in 2014 when a bus driver claimed to have seen a sizeable crocodile in the River Avon in Bedminster.

The idea has since generated not only an album, a statue overlooking the Floating Harbour, but also a student film. Bui found the notion of a crocodile in the UK just ‘the funniest thing’ and was inspired. He states that the more he thought about it, the more perfect it all seemed: ‘What I am trying to convey through my music is a mysterious vibe, and this just ties everything together.’

Crocodiles aside, the city of Bristol itself is a major inspiration. ‘Me and all my friends agree Bristol is the best city we’ve ever lived in,’ says Bui. ‘I just try to capture the magic feeling I feel about Bristol in my music.’

Glimpsing into the future, a venue like Thekla is the dream for Minh Bui, but he appears to aim for expression more than anything: ‘I’d play on the rooftops! Play until the cops show up, you know!’ It seems that the Bristol air is plenty enough for inspiration.

As the music industry becomes more and more exclusively commercial, it becomes imperative for us to support independent artists. Luckily, in a city with such a vibrant music scene, music to fit anyone’s taste is just around the corner, and here is an album with a little something for everyone. Have a listen and see if you can solve the Bristol Crocodile Mystery.

What is your favourite song from the album?