For nearly a decade now, New York septet Ikebe Shakedown has been mining a strain of funk that’s vintage in sound and spirit, yet undeniably a product of this totally wired age of worldwide connectivity. “Brushfire”—from the band’s 2017 release, The Way Home—takes you on a hallucinatory trip around the world, riding a groove that’s warmly familiar yet takes you to thrillingly freaky places.
The opening twang fanfare and rattlesnaked vibraslap drop you somewhere in the middle of New Mexico desert in the dead of night before a slow-motion bongo-disco groove transports you to the dirty dancefloors of ’70s New York. Once the brass section pipes in with its Afrobeat accents, you’ll find yourself at an all-nighter at The Shrine in Lagos. And then a squealing guitar solo in the home stretch brings us full circle with a hallucinatory hit of sun-dazed psychedelia. With its retro-funk foundation, “Brushfire” may come on like Studio 54, but its vibe is more Area 51.
You can keep track of Ikebe Shakedown on their Facebook page here. Colemine Records is offering a full album stream on YouTube, so if you like what you hear above, hear more below:
