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SXSW Review: The Heavy
Seeing UK funk rock band The Heavy play Thursday, it was hard to not feel like someone was selling a false bill of goods. That’s at least partially a compliment since the fivesome from Noid, England, sound like the sexiest, funkiest group on this or any shore on their great debut, “Great Vengeance and Furious Fire,” which finally gets a U.S. release next month.
Full of sweaty Curtis Mayfield-mimicking vocals from singer Swaby, the record has a Stax-like muscle to its horns and rhythm section, which is almost a must to do that kind of music well.
So the problem with the band’s hotly anticipated set at Elysium? No horns, just four-beat prerecorded horn figures played from a sample box hooked up to a keyboard that stood in ably for the real thing at first, but soon became constricting. This was the case because soul and funk bands, particularly horns, bass and drums, work best when there’s an elastic push and pull to the rhythm that allows for improvisation at the drop of a hat.
Lacking that moving pocket, you had an able band and a vocalist who’s clearly a star in the making reigned in almost as bad as a rap artist rhyming live over recordings, giving them no room for spontaneity. The lesson in all of this? Next time, guys, drop the cash to bring on some real brass that’ll let you shine even better than on the record.
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