Since the release of Earphunk’s debut LP No 9 to 5 in 2013, the band’s base of discerning music fans has only continued to expand, particularly following performances at festivals including Euphoria, Electric Forest, Wakarusa and Bear Creek.
The band recorded their third album, Sweet Nasty, during tour breaks over the last year at the famed Studio in the Country in Louisiana. And while it harnesses the same Southern “prog-funk” sound for which the New Orleans natives have become known, the 11-track LP demonstrates just how far the quintet has come after multiple tour and festival circuits under their belt.
The first few songs off the album, including title track “Sweet Nasty,” “She Don’t Wanna Hear from You” and opening song “Sunup to Sundown,” are high-energy numbers featuring attitude-filled bass lines and infectious hooks. Sweet Nasty seems to at first take shape into a deep south dance party album(a la Galactic, the Motet or Rebirth Brass Band).
As the album progresses, however, slower tempo, genre-bending tracks like “Pino” and “Saura” emerge, incorporating elements of jazz, big band, space rock, disco, and live-tronica to give each track a unique, funky fresh sound. Tracks like “Phine,” for example, incorporate talk box vocals and classic rock riffs reminiscent of Peter Frampton, while rock ballad “Beautiful” focuses on less groove and more soul. Smooth, jazzy tracks like my personal album favorite, “Ambin,” offer a sexier, softer side of Earphunk that I hope to see more of in the future.
Arranged in such a way that it could have been a live set list, Sweet Nasty starts off with a bang but ends with a more gentle, softer sound. Like the oxymoronic nature of the title track, Sweet Nasty is an album that plays off the juxtaposition of opposites: loud and quiet, hard and soft, fast and slow, up and down, sweet and nasty. It appeals to a multitude of human senses and emotions, elevating itself from the standard funk/rock album. The raw, rock and roll sound of Sweet Nasty is undeniably Earphunk, albeit perhaps a bit more refined.
Download the Sweet Nasty bundle for free off the band’s website, which includes the studio recording, videos and three live sets from recent performances at Nectar’s, Artmosphere and Tipitinas.
Currently on tour throughout the South, Earphunk will wrap up their fall run at Bear Creek Music Festival on Nov. 15 at Bear Creek Music Festival in Live Oak, Florida. Check the band’s tour schedule here.
Earphunk Tracklisting:
1. Sunup to Sundown
2. Sweet Nasty
3. She Don’t Wanna Hear From You
4. Check the Pulse
5. Pino
6. Saura
7. Phine
8. The Multiverse
9. Bautiful
10. Ambin
11. Lippy
-Jaimie Siegle