Silver Tongue Bandoliers’ demo E.P “The Tales Of Mr Funkyson” is due for independent release on 7th February ’17 (available from all major online retailers and streaming platforms).
The forthcoming E.P “The Tales of Mr Funkyson” was written, arranged and produced by STB. It tells a tale of the band’s future musical exploits pathing the way for a professionally produced 7-track record titled “Strangers Paradise”.
The Silver Tongue Bandoliers ease us into this six-track EP with an intro skit called ‘Skipping Breakfast’ and, coming from someone who had never encountered this band before, I couldn’t help but think: Alright, what’s this all about?
We’re taken to this wavy electric dreamland, tickled by the odd twang of a funk guitar, no doubt showcasing the talented production that we’re yet to experience thereafter on the EP. A character, probably Mr Funkyson, is rudely and violently awakened by the god-awful screeching of his mother. Imagine early Will Smith’s ‘Parents Just Don’t Understand’ meets the introduction to ‘Superfast Jellyfish’ by The Gorillaz… with the goblin mascot from Nekrogoblikon telling you to just be yourself. You’ve got to give it to them, with an intro like this, this EP could go absolutely anywhere.
Then, on the next track, ‘Artificial’, lead singer Kian Vaziri demonstrates his funky vocals, which take you back to the days of Jamiroquai as the funk begins to crash in. It takes a while for this one to sit right with you as the overall sound and theme of the band tries to find its feet. As you begin to close your eyes and soak yourself in the funky background, you can’t help but picture the transition between two different scenes in an episode of Drake & Josh or other such Nickelodeon sitcoms. I bet it’s a proper laugh live, though.
It’s not until the following track, ‘The Price of Fun,’ that the sound really begins to land and everything falls into place. I instantly recognised the musical influences which The Silver Tongue Bandoliers have adopted, such as early Red Hot Chili Peppers and funk-icon Prince, which gets a double thumbs up and a gurney face from me as you bop to the killer slap-bass in the background. The Silver Tongue Bandoliers fully take advantage of the nostalgia-factor here, but their sound is a love-letter to a genre that is impossible to say a bad word about. I dare you sit (still, for that matter) and not enjoy this sound. I dare you.
By the time you get to ‘My Fathers Son’, you fully understand what these guys are going for and ride the wave of funk all the way through to ‘Balaura’, in which I explicitly wrote ‘YES MAN’ in my notes. It celebrates that sexy, confident and cool-as-a-cat vibe about some of the best Hendrix music, the intro slams, and the solo towards the end is such a pleasant surprise, and by this point, it doesn’t even matter that they’re not a household name. You put this on at any party, and people are sure to boogie, balls-to-the-wall. And I think that this is where their quality begins to shine through. Because it harkens back to a time in which we’re all musically familiar with and nostalgic for, it sounds like everything you’ve heard before, but reinterpreted and re-appropriated for a modern audience that I’m sure lots of people would love to see live.
The Silver Tongue Bandoliers tie the EP together with their closing track ‘Retro Fizzy Drink’, and I’ve got four words for you: Limp Bizkit in flares.
They’re a band that undoubtedly wear their influences on their sleeve, but considering they originate from England, they do so well to recapture the retro joy of the height of the funk genre. They’re keeping the funk going strong, but most importantly, they’re keeping it real.
Words – Chris Hambling
