Funk meets metal meets jazz meets punk and they all coalesce in a kind of feverish orgy, and the ensuing love-child is 6fears7. This isn’t just your common or garden funk, this is an exotic new hybrid of musical flora. This isn’t just rock – this is molten lava erupting with volcanic muscle and showering down in a rhythmical incandescence.
6fears7 are five fearless individuals from Bristol who are renovating the genre and taking it out of its comfort zone of predictability and giving it a tandoori-hot make-over. They produce a highly volatile product that should come complete with a hazard warning – danger, not to be played unless willing to dance. They squeeze every drop from their instruments and equipment, cranking them full tilt and working them till they are practically screaming for mercy. Effects and turntables and guitars are whipped like slaves into submission, and the result sweats with passion and commitment.
Tamsin Cullum, the singer, has the kind of vocation and expression that could make the back of a cornflake box sound spicy if she sang the ingredients. When global warming finally implements its scorched earth policy then the sound of the cities burning and exploding will be similar to the energy released by 6fears7. This is the kind of power that must have been released when the Big Bang occurred. This is the kind of force that is required to collide protons.
‘Fetch the white coats’ is the first track on their recent debut, Little Green Box. The sentiment reflects the level of kinetic excitement which appears to be the default setting, like funk on steroids. This kicks into the best track on the EP, ‘Dirty town’ which is a sublime example of the fabulous frenzy generated by the band. It steams along like a runaway locomotive gathering momentum as the pistons pump ever harder and the pressure in the boiler is on the verge of splitting the seams wide open and bursting the rivets. And just when you think they will be easing their foot off the pedal they work it to another level, with police sirens wailing and the blood heated to temple-throbbing proportions.
‘On your knees’ and ‘Indignation’ are further examples of songs that have been manifestly evolved and honed into polished perfection – refined and designed and delivered with emotion. Little Green Box is an awesome achievement - a thickly layered and plush production, busy and intricate but effectively so. Decisive and focused playing by every member is a key element - Tom Agg on rock-god guitar, Greg Badman on eloquently fluid bass, Michael Goodman on nuclear reactor drum kit and Jonny Roydon on demonic decks. Their music is also characterised by strong group vocals which significantly enhance the overall effect, sometimes in unison and sometimes in question and answer format. One wonders if they have any intention to augment this line-up with a sax at some point.
The track ‘I got it’, which isn’t on the current collection, is also a very beguiling amalgamation of influences packaged within the context of funk – an incredibly soulful rendition with the vocals, some gutsy bluesy guitar playing and quite a few nods to some full-on hard rock posturing, and as always very powerful riffs fuelling it all.
If you want frenetic music with an edge that’s packed full of nutritious vitamins and minerals to energise you through a night of gyrating hips then look no further. This outfit have taken the word stamina and redefined it with enhanced virility. As the band themselves sing – you’ve got to prove you work together. On the evidence of this offering they have proven the efficacy of joint labour and without doubt Little Green Box is a box of delights.
Review by Peter Heydon
Check out 6Fears7!
No comments:
Post a Comment