CSC Funk Band
Funkincense
Brooklyn, NY
(Electric Cowbell Records)
“Funky grooves that send your booty on a shake odyssey”
On its face, the second full-length release from CSC Funk Band seems like a straightforward funk album. But closer scrutiny reveals Funkincense to be as enigmatic as the pungent smoke rising, in coy billows, from a stick of Nag Champa.
Musically, CSC delivers exactly what their name promises: low-down, dirty grooves that will send your booty on a shake odyssey. Guitarist and bandleader Colin Langenus is less George Clinton and more Fela Kuti, placing the horn section front and center in his arrangements and pushing the boundaries of funk. The music reflects the diversity and frenetic pace of Brooklyn, the band’s hometown. The songs, all instrumentals, run the gamut from slinky lounge grooves (“Klip Winger”) to hip-hop inspired beats (“Make Your Mind Up”), to jazz fusion (“Ticket to Cabo”), reminiscent of ’70s groups like Catalyst or even Can.
All this seems to be just what one would expect not to have expected from a hip, NYC party band. But the music hides a mystery. The band chose to drop this eagerly awaited second album amidst the hoopla of Record Store Day on the small label Electric Cowbell, instead of New York hip-hop label Fat Beats, which released their debut. Why is CSC playing it so close to the vest? Is more material soon to follow? All we can do is keep our noses turned towards Brooklyn until we catch a whiff of more funky stuff.
Produced by Jesse Lent
Engineered by Colin Langenus and Gary Lubansky