Konono no. 1 have been countlessly compared to The Velvet Underground, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Tom Waits and kraut-rockers Can, by journalists struggling to define their distinctive sound. But their ‘Bazombo trance’, hailing from the outskirts of Kinshasa, in the DRC, is when it comes down to it, completely incomparable.

And so is their story. Established 44 years ago by likembe (aka thumb piano) virtuoso, Mingiedi, the band started out playing their music as most bands do, in local bars. But during the civil war, the group was disbanded: every original member except for Mingiedi died, leaving Konono No.1 virtually non-existent, until  a rare recording of the group on a French compilation was picked up by Belgian producer Vincent Kenis. After trying to trace Mingiedi on and off for almost 20 years, the band finally came to be recorded by Kenis’ label, Crammed, in 2002, and since then they have won an award at the BBC World Music Awards, been nominated for a Grammy and performed at Coachella.

It’s quite a feat for a band whose instruments are made out of salvaged car parts. The set-up is a genuine scrapheap challenge, a die-hard DIY affair: their rhythm section comprises pans, pots and car parts, used magnets make their microphones and old colonial ‘lance-voix’ (huge megaphones) provide their amplification. While they may have salvaged their parts, there’s no recycling in their rhythms – contrary to the comparisons and being dubbed as ‘proto-acid house’, they really are influenced by little else than their immediate surroundings. It seems more than fitting that the band use car parts to form their sounds, what with their music having an incredible driving force. Their tracks are often 12 minutes long, and at the live show it is almost impossible to distinguish where one stops and the next starts. In Kinshasa, the band are known to play 5 or 6 hour sets – a testament to their energy, both musical and physical. Playing a set at the London’s Scala is, then, a far cry from the usual performance for the 6-strong band, and despite the rhythmic bounce, the musicians seem quite static, a strange opposition to the music itself. Still, the multi-layers of continuous, slightly off-key likembe with the hypnotic drum beats and whistles makes for an intense hour of exuberant trance.

Here to promote the release of Assume Crash Position, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2005 debut Congotronics I, the band has been cut down from its usual line-up, as its founder is now too old to tour. His job has been taken over by his son, who adds an extra dimension to their reputation in the Congo as a ‘tradi-modern’ band – distorting the orthodox with their makeshift electronics.

Funnily enough, they now seem to be everyone’s favourite Bazombo trance band, and it’s probably the only trance gig you’ll go to without a single Dutch person in sight.

Their label, Crammed, are releasing a super limited edition vinyl boxset of Congotronics, check it out and cop Assume Crash Position over at their website.