In light of the heavy, foreboding times through which we are currently living, any sort of artistic escape from the banality and fear of our normal day-to-day reality is not only welcome, it’s encouraged. For a 20-minute long fantastic voyage, look no further than Seeds?, an outer-spacial electro-funk hop squad based out of Huntsville, Alabama who just released their latest and finest EP, Sauce.
The concept album has a colorful storyline and ten-tons of swagger, as Sauce is one of the more idiosyncratic efforts to hit the scene in a while. Seeds?’s addictive blend of crunk bass vibrations with psychedelic dub and stream-of-consciousness emceeing makes for an intoxicating smorgasbord of styles. Listen to the EP below:
Seeds? – Sauce – Full EP
There’s an undeniable DIY-factor with this band that only adds to the allure; you can really hear the tunes coalesce in the moment, as Sauce comes to life. This is no hi-falutin, homogenized mix of the latest fads or trends; these dudes are unapologetic about where they live and who/what raised them. In addition to the original Southernplayalistic hip-hop ethos, Seeds? brings a heroic dose of Parliament-Funkadelic to the party, downstrokin’ to the brink of EDM but never quite crossing over. This squad came up on The Chronic, so it’s a Mothership expedition to the land of G-Funk bump, a Mad Professor ridin’ shotty rollin’ trees, Weird Al lampin’ in the backseat with an atomic service dogg.
Seeds? is the brainchild of Proper (Branson Ellis), who birthed the project in 2014. Sauce shows just how much this project has grown since its nascent days, as the woozy, head-noddin’ beats that lace the EP incorporate an eclectic assortment of sounds and a wide array of live instrumentation and programming. It’s crystal clear that these guys studied hard in the Dungeon—the Outkast/Goodie Mob vibes are in full effect in the form of bruising bass, tick-tick 808s, reggae-style horns, and that booty-shakin’ car trunk thump. Beneath the surface, one can hear the psychedelic influence of Lettuce in the marriage of hip-hop with horns, slow n’ low funk grooves, and esoteric explorations in sound.
Seeds?’s lyrical steez when pourin’ the Sauce is a crucial component to their drank, or I should say, elixir. The rapping really ups the ante and diversifies their bonds, as the main emcee Breezy (Brennan Fullagar) comes with an animated cadence and rapid-fire rhyme schemes that work in contrast to Proper’s laid-back Southern steeziology. Nickel Plated Gold (Trey Alexander), drummer Seantanamo Bay (Sean Lovell), Landlord Dan (Daniel Bullard) on trumpet, and Christopher Spies on sax round out the cosmically-crunk contingent. Their dubbed-out, intergalactic space funk grooves settle into a lazy, hazy pocket and hang out for the duration of this EP.
What actually is this Sauce? Well, that’s a question best left answered by the record itself. The intricate, trippy cover art was meticulously crafted by Stozo (Ronald P. Edwards), who’s contributed album art for George Clinton and Fishbone, among others.
The conceptual framework of the EP finds the respective characters piloting a vehicle that travels through space and time. The fellas have curious and humorous luck as they set about fighting the evils of greed and deception amid the stars, comets and planets—a battle seeking to further funkify the universe. I know it sounds like a bit much to take in, but if you truly believe in it all, then you just might see the fresh Sauce.
Key Tracks: “Sauce Supply” “Sauce Pocket”
words: B.Getz
