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Written
by Jason Snyder, posted by blog admin
Going
full bore with meaty full-motion bass grooves, scorching blues/funk guitar
licks and jam band leads and smacking rhythms Downtown is one of those albums that starts out in high and stays
there for the duration. That’s not to
say this album is short of dynamics or same-y sounding from track to track but
even when this album is smoothing things out with a more relaxed, laidback
compositional aesthetic it’s still not easy to pin down. Downtown’s
downtime will challenge you just as much as its full-bodied rockers.
Joe
Olnick is the band leader and with Downtown
being the 6th recording in his band’s discography it’s no doubt that
he’s a prolific veteran when it comes to his trade. Backed by a taut, high energy rhythm section
in the two Jamies (Jamie Aston on bass and Jamie Smucker on drums), each song
on this 7-cut romp is a well-played exercise in tactical funk rock brutality. “Philadelphia Moonlight (Part One)”
interweaves acoustic and electric guitars for an energizing and entertaining
mixture of multiple genres. The searing
guitar figures splice acoustic textures, fleet-fingered leads and doubled-up
funk melodies into a well-molded whole that’s held in place by a moving and
shaking rhythm section that’s all about embracing the groove. Smucker maintains a tight pocket but is truly
a stellar jazz player when it comes to his style; he makes those blink n’
you’ll miss ‘em hot roddin’ fills of his seem effortless and backed by Aston’s
hunky, chunky grooves…well, the whole thing manages to feel like you’re being
transported back in time to a 60s jazz club to watch some attack-leaned funk
band play. Olnick and the boys have got
their own thing going, that’s for sure.
The aforementioned cut flows like a crystal clear river into “Food
Truck” which takes another mid-tempo funk groove and
throttles it up against the wall with a rhythmic fistful of fury. Again, the instrumentation is somehow tough
and tense sounding while still being all about the wrangling of a good melody
for all it’s worth.
The
unusual “Parkside” is a medley of experimental jazz, atonal noise rock and
funky grooves getting all shook up in the same bottle. It’s got a quirky, weirdo opening seasoned by
a spicy wah-riff, heavy rhythmic syncopation that’s both in-time and out of
time and a very hypnotic arrangement so locked into its way that you think
it’ll never change. Yet it does change,
eventually the slow stacking of the intro giving way to a blazing lead lick and
some full-on rhythmic funk. Artsy
minimalism is applied in “Philadelphia Moonlight (Part Two)” and it’s
unorthodox approach wouldn’t have been out of place on the Release division of
metal label Relapse Records (Release was all noise, drone, ambient and
free-form jazz style releases). “Rush
Hour” returns the record to pluckin’ bass grooves, snazzy perpetual motion
beats and extended guitar jams; funk rock to the max, pure and simple. And the head scratchers thusly keep on comin’
as closer “Sports Complex” comes close to the aggression of metal while coating
the guitars and rhythms in 60’s psychedelic rock.
If
you live for the strange, love instrumental music and tend to go for releases
whose rewards come with challenging repeat listens, then you’re going to go ape
for Downtown. Olnick, Smucker and Aston take a no rules
approach to their music and it pays off dividends. It’s rocking, rolling and even confusing;
this is an album for headphones if there ever was one.
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