RELEASES
| Black Brown & White | ||
| I’d be astonished if Tahuna Breaks don’t have hugely successful concerts on their current tour, and sell truckloads of this album — because they tick every stylistic box that New Zealand audiences seem to like: you want James Brown-styled soul-funk (you’ve got it on Giddy Up which isn’t the Katchafire song, and Funky Mama), or you want light lovers rock (here on Only You)? There is the sentimental ballad to a beautiful daughter, some Commodores-styled funk (We Funk the Party which maybe doesn’t sound quite so cool after the Flight of the Conchords) and of course dollops of reggae of various kinds (dub, old school riddums, Marley referenced on Crisis Situation). There is empowerment and sensitivity (Somebody’s Daughter), late night soul (Make Out Party which also resorts to some Peter Frampton-like talking keyboards, bound to be a crowd pleaser) and concern for the environment. This is all beautifully crafted, well written, well played and the production is excellent, thoroughly enjoyable all round in fact. But I can’t help think there is just too much of something-for-everyone here which makes the album as a whole sound calculated. Review courtesy of Graham Reid from Elsewhere |
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Tracklist:
1. Empower Me (5:18)2. Only You (3:46) 3. Giddy Up (4:35) 4. Funky Mama (3:14) 5. Black, Brown & White (4:27) 6. Crisis Situation (5:01) 7. Listen (6:59) 8. Somebody’s Daughter (3:33) 9. Sophie’s Lullaby (4:11) 10. I Can’t Stand It (6:33) 11. We Funk the Party (5:23) 12. Make Out Party (5:20) 13. Insomnia (6:54) |
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| Reflections | ||
| While I understand the wide appeal of Fat Freddy’s Drop – a laidback distillation of reggae, soul and so forth – it is too mellow for my taste. Tahuna Breaks – who also distil elements of soul and reggae but have an urgent rock attack too – are much more my kind of thing. Vocalist Marty Greentree often sings like his life depends on it and, being driven by a kind of live drum’n'bass feel with some funk tossed in for good measure, this album just leaps out and grabs you. On Weekend Lover Man there are times when you can hear Greentree reaching into the blues also, Crisis comes with a slightly ominous undertow, and Blinded is an object lesson in how to have a reggae groove that still hits hard and allows Greentree to be both glad to have found a lover – but also unsettlingly menacing in his need. They do tend to play their aces early here – they seem to have more than their share in the deck incidentally, but in music we don’t consider that cheating – and the closer If I Could strays way too far into Eagles balladry for my liking. But by my count eight out of the 10 tracks here are commanding. And mellow they ain’t. Review courtesy of Graham Reid from Elsewhere |
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Tracklist:
1. I’m Not Worthy (6:39)2. Casually Acquainted (4:53) 3. Voodoo (4:10) 4. Weekend Lover Man (5:31) 5. Sunshine (3:15) 6. Crisis Situation (4:35) 7. Real Life (4:11) 8. Blinded (4:18) 9. Reflections (7:20) 10. If I Could (3:31) |
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