Snarky Puppy, Immigrance (GroundUp, 2019)
TRACK LISTING:
- Chonks
- Bigly Strictness
- Coven
- Bling Bling
- Xavi
- While We’re Young
- Bad Kids to the Back
- Even Us
The Snarky Puppy formula is tried and true: 1.) Create a rhythmic pocket; 2) Settle into it; 3) Play your ass off. The north Texas band has made that formula work from the get-go. It ain’t broke, so there is absolutely no need to fix it.
Led by bassist Michael League, Snarky Puppy (which boasts enough members to qualify as an orchestra, as opposed to a band) takes the best elements of jazz, rock, R&B, and jam to create an open-ended, highly accessible sound. That is not to say the music is simple or simplistic. The band members know how to play.
Whether it’s old school ’70s era funk (“Chonk”), trippy 6/8 exercises (“Xavi”), or mellow mood music (“Coven”), the band strikes the right chord (pun intended) on just about everything it plays. Each composition is a mini-adventure in and of itself.
Snarky Puppy manages to achieve the rare feat of creating easy to digest grooves and melodies that do not patronize the listener. They also do a great job of capturing their live energy in the studio, which is not the easiest thing to do.
Immigrance is the next step in the evolution of a maturing young band that only gets better with age.
#cirdecsongs
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (cirdecsongs)
Check out my book, I Can’t Be the Only One Hearing This: A Lifetime of Music Through Eclectic Ears. It’s available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine book dealers.
Want to have your album reviewed? Contact me at cirdecsongs@gmail.com
CirdecSongs 