Currently operating at the apex of an ever-maniacal prowess, the mad-hatting funk Voltron called Lettuce is an earth-shaking thunderclap. Now grinding for the better part of twenty years, the band is an evolution on display- in real time. This all-star ensemble continues breaking new ground with every leap skyward, all the while paying a respectful homage to their forefathers in song and emotion. With recent album release Crush (dropped November 6th, buy it here), their unparalleled ability to unleash a plethora of original funk and groove styles is on a mighty marquee. The clear and present intention here is danger; moving onward and levitating upward. The record finds Lettuce reinventing themselves within the futuristic netherworlds of bombastic beat science, a band born under the baddest of signs.

The band’s approach to songcraft pays magnificent artistic dividends, noting influences like James Brown, yet at the same time, in the words of guitarist Eric Krasno, “morphing through portals of Tower of Power, The Meters, and 1970’s-era Herbie Hancock“. Uniquely different styles converge in a shared obsession with breakbeats and crate digging, an amalgam of study and method of madness that propels the band to towering heights. In 2015, they truly have no equal, with a bludgeoning brand new album, and a documentary feature film (Let Us Play) about to be premiered. Nowadays they personify utter domination; a product of relentless touring, shedding, and shape-shifting the game. With Crush, the boys just keep raising the proverbial bar, a variation on the same one they set when bursting back onto the scene with 2008’s sophomore seminal classic Rage. There has never been a better day to be a Lettuce head, as the band is literally crushing the competition and firing on every available cylinder.

Photo by Phierce Photos

After shedding the material at Matt Grondin’s brand new Crescent City digs, the Lettuce krewe then were blessed to travel back to the planet of Brooklyn to record the actual tracks that would become Crush. They holed up in the fantastic Studio G, with venerable engineer Joel Hamilton at the helm, the same cat who twisted the knobs for Pretty Lights majestic, Grammy award winning A Color Map of the Sun. Lettuce themselves produced Crush, but no doubt Hamilton and his lair of largesse was a crucial elixir to the creative juice that let the funk flow so viciously.

I asked Ryan Zoidis, saxophonist extraordinaire and one-half of the Shady Horns duo, for a little bit of information about the recording process.

“We did a writing session in NOLA at Parlor Studio, just before fall tour. We flushed out most of the tunes on the road before we hit the studio. I got my synth rig going around that time too. We recorded analog, live to 2 inch tape. Joel Hamilton possesses a ridonkulous collection of analog gear. The cool thing was, we cut it live and did very little overdubbing. Our original trumpet player Rashawn Ross came back and laced up ‘The Force’, ‘Phyllis’, ‘Get Greazy’ and ‘The Lobbyist’. I attended the mastering session with Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering near my spot in Portland, Maine.”

Photo by Keith Griner

Bass player and in-house rock-star Erick “Jesus” Coomes had this to add about the path taken. “We had a lot of pu-erh tea and smoothies, and actually checked out a lot of fine dining.”

Album opener “The Force” immediately brings ‘the motherfucking ruckus’ (c)GZA, Adam Deitch’s driving pulse and the Shady Horn’s triumphant blasts announcing that the proverbial sheriff is back in town. Gigantic bottom end from Coomes thunders underneath a rising tide hemmed by the dual axe-attack from Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff and Eric Krasno. This first track is a five alarm fire, a search for new land that sets a blistering tone for this focused and diverse smattering of brand new compositions.

Photo by Patrick Hughes

“Phyllis” known as “Dilla 2” on the band’s setlist for the past couple of years, is the latest in delectable sonic tributes to the late, great hip-hop producer James “J-Dilla” Yancey. Eventually, the number was rechristened “Phyllis” to cement to connection. (Phyllis Diller> J Dilla= “Phyllis”.) This impregnable sure shot is another in the long line of prodigious creations from drummer wunderkind Adam Deitch. He remains a possessed and pulverizing rhythmic machine throughout the record, and especially on “Phyllis”, he provides a telekinetic display of pocket protection while high on a fly society vibe, subtly accentuating the groove with a lyrical approach, drenched in Dillatronics.

Jesus Coomes told the homies at Mass Appeal that the song “Is ‘Mr. Yancey’s cousin. She was born in Santa Monica at a beautiful mansion with a studio in the top floor.” Akin to its predecessor, this banger does not directly borrow from the Dilla prospectus. The ethos woven within Deitch’s drumming juxtaposed with The Shady Horns magnificently filtered brass heads, make for an inspired journey that might have one day escaped from Jay-Dee’s Detroit basement sound lab had he lived to continue making his magic. This song, in its unfettered essence, is maybe the most beautiful that Lettuce has ever been.

Photo by Patrick Hughes

Keyboard virtuoso Neal Evans is the unsung hero of this conglomerate. His presence is felt thoroughly throughout Crush, using a variety of plug-ins and patches to attain a unique and mellifluous landscape. Whether sailing away in dissonant clav and psychedelic tones, or underpinning the groove with lush Hammond whirls and washes, the dude is just on another level when it comes to finding and holding his space within the art.

Legendary rock journalist Dennis Cook said it best: “Neal Evans is a fluckin’ sorcerer, a conjurer of textures, melodies and crushing basslines that make the air – and folks in listening range – dance. What he does with Hammond Organ, electric Rhodes and more moves with liquid charm, a fluid energy that visibly flows from his flexing, bouncing, character-filled body as he pursues synergy with his gear, fellow musicians, and audience.”

Photo by Brandon Xuereb

Lettuce has always spread the love to vocalists who vibe with the collective mission to honor the annals of history. Royal family Nigel Hall (“Sounds Like a Party”) and Alecia Chakour (“He Made a Man Out of Me”) take the vocal reigns for a pair of songs that traverse backwards down a different kind of number line. Each tune spotlights the singer, while Lettuce shows and proves just how effective a support network they can become when there is a lead vocalist at the forefront of the ensemble.

The fantastic voyage that is “Trillogy” might be the standout track on the entire record. Each portion is a telltale strand of its author’s musical DNA.

Zoidis: “‘Trillogy’ is three different jams that we strung together to make one song. Jesus wrote the first one, I wrote the second one and Deitch wrote the final passage”.

During the first section, the spirits of Dr. Dre and DJ Quik are in the building. The lumbering stomp and spooky ascension are as hip-hop as Lettuce’s original music has ever been. It’s crystal clear that Coomes’ City of Angels paws are all over this piece. The Zoidis-penned second section is mysterious; lurking, slowly but surely unveiling its demonic intentions, a smooth riding wave that metastasizes into something downright nasty. This portion of “Trillogy” is a slipknot around the neck.The raucous third section is quite obviously Deitch all day, a screwed-up, trap-house snare break gone AWOL. By the time the band reaches its climax, the mold has officially been broken and the mission more than accomplished.

Photo by Patrick Hughes

“The New Reel” starts of as a grandiose throwback jam; a terrific testament to the quintessential Creed Taylor groove-merchant styles of the mid 1970s. The rollout is slick and seductive, before dropping into a half-pipe of pure pocket. In a flash, it morphs into a beast all its own, with lavishly luscious guitar licks, syncopated bass and drum conversations, and more of Neal Evans mastery, kissed off by the Shadies. The enigmatic chemistry between Zoidis and trumpet maestro Eric Benny Bloom is on display throughout the album, but the horns really shine here. Bloom’s the newest member of Lettuce, but his skill set and confidence are tantamount to the equation. When the horn break drops, the listener is bouncing from the rafters, the roof, or touching the sky, depending on the environs. This song is an entirely different steez than is found elsewhere on the record, a steady-driving train that arrives at stutterstep station, Evans’ dissonant sound waves taking us home- the sound of a pure unadulterated victory lap.

“Silverdome” is a bulbous and brutal display of pure guitar riffage. Krasno’s blues roots and meticulous quest for monster tone set the stage for a workout fortified with magnanimous brass leads. Shmeeans’ dirty deeds are unveiled within the sludge, one part Jimmy Page and the other half Down. The rumbling, demonic Deitch drums are married to a sinister, staggering six-string kamikaze jam; this tune was formerly known as Lett-Zeppelin for blatantly obvious reasoning.

Something needs to be said for these interludes, each of them less than a minute long but chock full of head-nodding swagger. The album features four short outtakes of “Phyllis” that are a divine salutation to boom-bap sonics. Deitch’s drums are mic’d in a way that call out to the ghosts of Marley Marl and Pete Rock, with Coomes’ bare bones bass lines walking the fine line between gutter and gangster. The reverb drenched guitar line snakes its way around the beat, and the short samples of sound and fury leave the listener only wondering what might have been.

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Catch Lettuce at Brooklyn Bowl January 1st & 2nd, following a New Year’s Eve blowout in Chicago with Future Rock and Turbo Suit.

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Purchase Crush here or stream it below.