DeFox 2020
Charred Funk
Heavy trio from New York steer their ship to the future yet are anchored to tradition.
There’s no deficit of little funk ensembles but only a few of these play it right, with gusto and flair the genre demands, and that’s something guitarist Peter Milo and his friends know well enough to offer a muscular master class on how to lay a proper groove. Or “Ironclad Groove” – as the deliciously sharp opening cut of the group’s debut EP has it, because there’s a hard, and and the same time flexible, veneer to the tunes which attempt to map a way beyond contemporary approach to instrumental music while paying homage to the blues.
“Mister Jimi” may be the best example of the ensemble’s method, with Hendrixian licks wrapped in harmonies that the team harness with multi-tracked parts so a stereo-busting orchestra effect is created, yet listen closer to the effervescent “Say Funkle” to catch a certain Clapton riff on its coda. Wade Storey’s bass and RK Beets’ drums propelling “Funk In A” towards rapturous filigree and occasionally pulling the punch to let Milo’s six strings to the fore, the trio hit their stride, rather frenetically, in “Rocket Ed” but the more metallic it gets, the less impressive the piece becomes.
This is something a full-length album should correct. It must be smoldering.
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