Tunes Consumed: the Poutine Silver Platter

Okay, so not everyone makes a snap-connection between God’s creatures and their Decepticon-counterparts, but I happen to be one of them, and when I heard The Budos Band’s latest was homage to one certain little anthropod, those little green lights that I call my neurons fired off Scorponok. Just look at those claws… chilling.

Not nearly as chilling as the up-tempo Stanton Island afrobeat this eleven piece can pull off with their arsenal of drums, bass, guitar, electric organ, trumpets, sax, bongos, congas, tambourine, guiro, clave, shekere and cowbell. If they only had 69 more members one could rightfully say move over Fela.

Seriously though, the way these guys front their mix with the horns makes me tingle. It’s exactly this breed of polyphonic funk that rivals Antibalas for the party crown, to be sure. As far as they go live, there’s more to them than a bunch of chubby white dudes on stage blowing shiny brass (despite what YouTube videos seem to suggest). You’ll probably have to drive down to or through the Empire State to see them, since their current tour lineup doesn’t yet take them this side of the border. No doubt the manic traffic is worth it.

Here’s a little taste of their last tour:

And some tunes off The Budos Band II to tide you over until the Daptone store has it up.

mp3:
The Budos Band - Budos Rising
The Budos Band - Scorpion