Afrofreque

Fresh Soul Frequencies

The spaced-out funk jams of Austin sixpiece Afrofreque fall somewhere between P-Funk and Jamiroquai. The group shines on “Cool Breeze,” a supersynthesized summertime anthem complete with a psyched-out guitar solo winking at Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel. DJ Resinthol is skilled on the decks, but his scratching is occasionally gratuitous to the point of distraction, smacking of that moment in the late-1990s when every band needed a DJ. The lyrics of MC Tigre Liu are mostly devoid of substance and his rhyme patterns simplistic, but it hardly matters. Despite dubious claims of “mind elevation,” this is strictly ass-shaking music, and Tigre Liu keeps the party moving, his voice and relaxed flow deftly floating over the chunky drums of Michael Hale and funky basslines of John Siebenthaler. The album succeeds when it stops fronting as brain food and recognizes the real: “People in the house everywhere, bobbin’ your head and shakin’ your derriere.”

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This article appears in April 11 • 2008.

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Thomas Fawcett has been freelancing for The Austin Chronicle since 2007. He likes good music and does not fake the funk.