The Budos Band
VII
Diamond West
In the press release for VII, saxophonist Jared Tankel states, “We’re not Afrobeat, we’re not Ethiopian jazz. We’re not world music. We’re not really funk, we’re not soul. We’re not rock. We’re just an amalgam of all these different sounds, so things pop out in all directions when you listen.” Budos guitarist Tom Brenneck elaborates, “Sometimes it’s like we’re speaking some esoteric language that no one else understands except us, and we’re doing it wrong. It’s like how the Stones tried to play the blues and they missed the mark and they made something new — everything The Budos tries to do, we do wrong, and it sounds like The Budos.”
VII sounds like the soundtrack to a very eclectic movie. I feel like a Tarantino movie should be playing. At its core, there is a psychedelic funk heartbeat animating a horn-driven riff monster. It’s mesmerizing and gyration inducing at the same time. “Mean Streets” sounds like a dance-off on the set of Black Godfather. At other times, I can practically see those psychedelic coming-attractions loops from the ’70s. The nostalgia factor is high, but it doesn’t sound like aping the past. All these elements go into the Budos machine and come out twisted and delightfully original.
