Published on Apr 14, 1998
Any time I see a CD come across my desk proclaiming that some
band has “the funk,” I tend to view it with some skepticism. I’ve
survived many a band who have made such a claim, only to fall flat
on their faces when they tried to get down, such as Limbomaniacs
and 24-7 Spyz. Other bands, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have
made funk a part of their career, only to show their greatest
successes have come when they dropped the George Clinton stylings
and got down to some serious rocking.
Well, count the Funky Butt Drum Club as a band who live up to
their hype – and I gotta admit, I wasn’t looking forward to
listening to this disc. But
Get A Load Of This has made more a believer out of me – so
much, in fact, that I now listen to this disc for sheer
enjoyment.
The band’s name suggests that each member, at some point in the
act, plays some type of percussion. This works in small doses, but
when a song relies solely on percussion (“Poly went and Cracked
her” comes to mind), it doesn’t work as well, sounding like a
marching band from hell. But what is even more striking about this
six-piece band from the Champaign, Illinois area is that the only
guitar you’ll find is Josh Walden’s six-string bass. Surprisingly,
this combo sans guitar works, and works well.
Led by vocalist/percussionist Brandon T. Washington, Funky Butt
Drum Club wastes very little time making their presence felt,
featuring a sound which some might be amazed to find out wasn’t
created in a “name” studio. Saxophonist Peter Roubal, keyboardist
Jesse Brown, and drummers Josh Quirk and Ian Shepherd round out the
crew.
From the more serious tomes like “No Movie” and “Insecure,”
Funky Butt Drum Club deliver the message and pound it home
effectively. Other numbers are much more light-hearted, and in the
case of songs like “Breakfast” and “Funky Butt,” are even
laughable. (On “Funky Butt,” a live number, Washington sounds a lot
like ex-Frank Zappa guitarist Ray White.)
But were
Get A Load Of This just a disc of happy-go-lucky funk, it
would fail on the grounds that people might not take the band
seriously. Don’t be fooled, though; Funky Butt Drum Club is more
serious than one would have expected. “I Have My Hands” deals with
a man coming to grips with a troubled relationship, realizing that
he can either walk back to the troubles or walk away – and whatever
he decides, he’s still got his self-independence. “Nowhere I Can
Lean” likewise deals with the difficulty of making a decision,
though the scenario is different: “You want me to keep away /
Tempted, but I think I’ll stay.”
Get A Load Of This owes as big a debt to Zappa as they do to
George Clinton’s Parliament/Funkadelic, but they never lose their
own unique voice on this disc – and that makes all the difference.
This might be a more difficult title to find, but it’s definitely
worth the search.
Y’know, George Clinton was right: Free your mind, and your ass
will follow!