May 09 2008
The Hot Grits — It’s Too Drunk To Be This Early
posted by Steven Shaw at 1:18 pm
The Hot Grits It’s Too Drunk To Be This Early (Monkey Records)
It’s Too Drunk To Be This Early is the second release from Auckland funk band The Hot Grits after their 2006 Champion Sounds EP, which had a swag of student radio hits (including “Say I Love It”).
With a helping of influence from Afrobeat performers like Fela Kuti, The Hot Grits are first and foremost a live act, best experienced in a small, heaving room. Beats and rhythm are given priority, with vocalist Barnie “Uncle” Duncan’s couplets serving to embellish the groove rather than going for melodic hooks. That said, the grooves are solid and the horn arrangements, with trombone and baritone sax snuggling up to tenor sax, are closer in tone to dub/reggae grooves (or Dexys Midnight Runners, even) than more traditional trumpet-led funk arrangements.
The seven-track album kicks off with solid floor-shaker “W.W.T.” (“World Wide Thirst”), a semi-political call to awareness with traces of psychedelia. Next track, “The Ballad of Joe Stalin” (“I’m my own government motherf*cker”), stayed atop bFM’s weekly top ten for several weeks. Vocals here are rough, raw and in the red.
Old school syncopation comes into play on the very funky “My Rites”, which has a blistering vocal featuring second vocalist, Elitia “ShaSha” Clark”. It really is one of the best tracks.
“Headlights” is deep and garage rock-fuelled, with distorted organ and tambourine sounds introducing street-wise lyrics. “New Right Kids” has is a brass-led groove with funky clavinet sounds. Both are great tracks, although the lyrics, working here in a bandleader/M.C. function, occasionally take away from the band’s almighty push and would be just fine as pure instrumental workouts.
Chicken scratching guitar introduces the seven minute-plus “Deep Threat”, and the album closes with “Syntax”, a slow, psychedelic funk with jazz-inspired brass harmonies.
It’s a powerful, punchy album, best suited to fans who want to recreate The Hot Grits’ sweaty, live performance vibe in the safety of their own homes.
Links:
The Hot Grits’ website: www.thehotgrits.co.nz
At MySpace: myspace.com/thehotgrits
www.monkeyrecords.co.nz