The Meters were a legendary New Orleans funk and R&B outfit which evolved into the legendary soul outfit “The Neville Brothers”. The Meters sound is based in tight grooves with four or five instruments, rather than the expansive brassy arrangements of some of their funk contemporaries such as James Brown or Sly Stone. They seem to possess a kind of homey swamp funk. Through its sparseness it allows full appreciation of their wonderful syncopations and tones and the performance of each musician throughout the songs.

Though the arrangements for each song are very similar, they have more than enough good tunes and grooves to make this album a special experience. This is not a tricked up glossy production, it conveys its musical message through sheer inventiveness and quality of playing.

The organ sound of Art Neville shimmers across each piece, duelling with Leo Nocentelli’s clean twangy guitar riffs. Out back Zig Modeliste on drums creates a tremendous number of rhythmic variations and accents within each track, kicking below and ringing above the tuneful, jazzy bass of George Porter Jr. That’s pretty much the recipe for The Meters’ sound but it is the unique unison and interplay between the members which creates some real magic on this record. They are not afraid to sit in a good groove and let it evolve – perhaps the give away that these songs come to fruition from jamming rather than individual compositon.

Some of my favourite tracks are the title “Look-ka py py”, “Funky Miracle”, “Yeah You’re Right”, and “Little Old Money Maker”. These songs seem to distil best The Meters swamp funk groove. If there is a weakness of the album I would say there are one or two slightly cheesy, sentimental organ lines. Overall a crackerjack album, and apparently they did seven others so plenty more to check out if you like The Meters’ sound.

Posted on Friday, December 1st, 2006 at 12:50 am
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