For a nine-piece, groove-based band with no vocals, the Budos Band can sure pack a house. The anticipation for this Daptoe Records-flavored ensemble was certainly at a fever pitch, as the sold-out crowd at the Independent could attest to on Friday night. There is no question these guys have built a reputation as a no-holds-barred, funk-blast of a band, and this sweaty night was no exception. With a gritty Staten Island-flavored street swagger, Budos dug deep into their catalog of minor-key grooves and exercised their craft of selfless ensemble playing.
At this stage in the band’s evolution, Budos seems to have successfully found a sound which is like no other. Taking their cues from the afrobeat/funk recipe book, they put their own trademark swagger on the music’s blueprint, and in the process make it completely their own. The tunes aren’t played with the bounce of funk, but rather retain a slinky, darker tone which sounds like it crept out from a smoky bar in the bad part of town. Their music crawls up your spine, infectious in its hypnotic grooves, yet containing a foreboding undertone which is distinctly the sound of Budos.
Leading the charge was Jared Tankel on barritone sax, who’s guttural blasts and squaks summoned up the demons and pushed the groove ever-forward. Playing a small old Gibson SG, bassist Daniel Foder effortlessly held everything together with his fluid lines, laying the groundwork for the rest of the band to build on. The four-piece percussion section was relentless, providing the straight, deliberate rhythms necessary to give the music its backbone. I’ve never seen anyone shake a shekere as long and as passionately as Vincent Balestrino, who never strayed from playing simple quarter notes the entire show – basic, yet absolutely essential. Though it was the minor organ riffs of Mike Deller which defined the band’s unique, eerie sound more than anything, played with that distinctive vintage, analog organ tone that Fela Kuti used to use.
On new tunes like “Black Venom” and “Unbroken, Unshaven” the patient, minimalist riffs of each member came together to weave a slinky web, hypnotizing the crowd into an oh-so-funky drone of groove. The band constantly broke this down to just percussion, then built it back again from drums on up, pushing the music up and out. The band was a model of restraint in its collective playing – it was striking how little syncopation there was in the music, as all the instruments played deliberately straight rhythms which all came together to form something far greater than the sum of its parts. In fact it was the horn section that did the heavy lifting all night, as they were responsible for all the lead melody lines and solos in every tune. The fact that there were only two horn players on this night left the band sounding a bit thin due to the horns’ pivotal role in the music, but the sheer power of the rhythm section made up for it in a big way.
All this incessant grooving had its effect on the crowd over the course of the night as the floor morphed into a pulsing, hypnotized mass. And though the endless minor riffs blended together as the night went on, the band’s disciplined commitment to not playing loud, but playing hard kept us wanting more right ’till the end. Bottom line, in the same vein as the Beastie Boys’ instrumental work, this band plays with such confidence and street swagger, listening to them just makes you feel a little cooler. It’s that indefinable feel which so many bands strive for that Budos most definitely has – it’s what makes Budos Budos.
